


Wings of Home

by Yemi Hikari (Yemi_Hikari)



Series: Wings of Home [1]
Category: One Day at a Time (TV 2017), Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Action, Adventure, Autistic Keith (Voltron), Bisexual Shiro (Voltron), Blue Paladin Elena Alvarez, Contest Entry, Empath, Family, Galaxy Garrison, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Jealous Lance (Voltron), Keith & Ryou (Voltron) are Twins, Keith & Shiro (Voltron) are Biological Siblings, Keith & Shiro (Voltron) are Full Siblings, Military, Open Novella, Open Novella Contest, Open Novella Contest 2019, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Siblings, Raising siblings, Science Fiction, Shiro (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Space Opera
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-04-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:54:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 21
Words: 26,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25238056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yemi_Hikari/pseuds/Yemi%20Hikari
Summary: Keith tells Shiro not to get on the flight home, so Shiro instead takes a commercial flight. Upon arriving he learns the plane the rest of his unit were on crashed and there were no survivors, yet he finds himself curious regarding why his younger brother knew he shouldn't get on the flight.
Relationships: Allura/Keith (Voltron), Elena Alvarez & Keith (Voltron), Elena Alvarez/Syd, Keith & Ryou (Voltron), Keith & Shiro (Voltron)
Series: Wings of Home [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1828327
Kudos: 6
Collections: (General) Open Novella 2019, (World) Abuella Knows Best (ODaT 2017/Voltron), A Whisper to the  Dark Side, Autistic Characters, Focus on Female Characters, Fuck Yeah Autistic Characters, MinorFandomFest, Platonic Relationships, Siblings, Voltron: Autistic Keith, Voltron: Keith's Twin, Voltron: Shiro & Keith - Biological Brothers





	1. Going Home

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer - I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender or One Day at a Time 2017. Note - This is written for Open Novella 2019. The prompt is Thrilling 1: Saved. The prompt is, "An army sergeant is making his way home from the war overseas, and more than anything he is looking forward to seeing his wife and children for the New Year. Rather than taking the flight home with his comrades he opts to fly commercially, and that decision saves his life. But why did he make that decision? Was it just dumb luck, or is there something more sinister afoot? " I'm working with my head canon that Shiro and Keith are siblings, but that Ryo and Keith are twins.

"Am I the reason you're taking a different flight from the rest of us?"

Adam's voice made Shiro pause. The young man of Japanese descent turned and looked at his best friend from academy days. Adam's normally light-brown skin gained a rather ashy look. Shiro watched the eyes of his companion not make eye contact. His best friend's look of discomfort made Shiro swallow; he knew all too well where Adam's uneasiness came from.

"If I was inappropriate..."

"Don't. Don't apologize for the way you feel." Shiro felt his own smile relax when Adam finally looked him in the eye.

"Thanks. Thanks for saying that."

"Besides... while I've got to admit the entire situation was a bit awkward for both of us, I didn't say no either." Shiro watched Adam's eyes widen in confusion.

"Wait. I knew full well when I..." Adam stopped speaking and instead looked away. The goodbye between the two at the airport became another awkward moment for him.

"Kissed me while you were drunk and confessed you've had feelings for me since we were cadets?" One of Shiro's eyebrows shot up with his mouth twisted into a smirk.

Adam's head turned back, but he attempted smiling at Shiro. "Come on. You're into girls, not guys. You've had quite a few."

"That doesn't mean I don't swing both ways." Shiro watched a slight blush appearing on his best friend's face but found himself glad the color began coming back to Adam's face. "Look. You know my history. I've never been able to stick with a relationship. I don't want to ruin our friendship if things go south like all the other times. I need some time to think."

"So, I am the reason?"

"Uh... no." The corner of Shiro's mouth twitched, but the situation was now awkward for him instead. "Taking the commercial flight will definitely give me time to think, but that's not the reason I'm not flying back with everyone else." Shiro's dark eyes glanced nervously at the ground. "Look. I'll tell you when we're both back at the garrison. It's kind of a rather silly reason, truth be told."

Glancing up, Shiro saw a smile spread across Adam's face. He watched his best friend lean forward and give him a hug goodbye. The smile remained when Adam pulled away. "I'll hold you to that."

Shiro did a two-finger salute before hoisting his carry on over his shoulder and headed through customs. He found himself in a rather good mood when he arrived at the terminal, but he arrived in time for boarding. For a brief moment, he pondered the fact he wasn't the piolet for the given flight but reminded himself he wouldn't have piloted the flight home for the rest of his unit.

Stepping onto the plane, the garrison soldier saw an elderly lady lifting her carry on but failing at lifting the bag into the luggage racks above. He stepped over and gently lifted the bag up much to the woman's delight. She looked up at him. "You're in a good mood young man."

"Yeah, well, I'm headed home. I've not seen my family in some time."

"Isn't it a bit more than that? Isn't there a special someone?" The old lady poked Shiro in the arm.

He thought about what the elderly lady said when he sat down. On one side Shiro knew he didn't want anything which might ruin his and Adam's already existing relationship. On the other hand, Adam wouldn't walk out on Shiro when he found out Shiro was a parent to his younger siblings as Adam already knew. In fact, Adam was always there for him particularly when Shiro found himself stepping up to care for his siblings.

A laugh escaped his mouth. Shiro suspected another reason he couldn't keep a steady relationship came down to Keith chasing away anybody he didn't trust, but Keith, in fact, trusted Adam. On the other hand, he didn't know if either of his siblings suspected he was bisexual, yet he didn't know how Ryo or Keith would react to finding out. Somehow in the back of his head, Shiro still kept thinking things would work out.

Shiro found himself nodding off in hopes of some peaceful dreams, but instead, he found himself jolting awake when one of his dreams ventured into a memory of battle he'd rather forget. Shiro glanced around in an anxious manner as his breath stalled slightly, yet none of the other passengers noticed the episode. His mind registered the dinging sound which startled him awake as the sound of the airplane speakers coming on when a crackling sound and the flight attendants voice echoed through his brain,

The passengers followed the instructions of buckling up. Shiro found himself savoring the feeling of landing, yet the garrison piolet felt a slight tingling emotion from not _being_ the piolet. Letting out a deep sigh he grabbed both his and the old ladies carry on from the overhead, but the thought of being home brought a wave of relief. He found himself helping the old lady at baggage claim before heading off towards the exit to meet his family.

The sight of Ryo and Keith made Shiro breathe deeply, but the positive feeling continued prevailing and overriding all negative feelings. Neither of the twins noticed him at first, but eventually, Keith looked up. Shiro watched Keith surge forward and felt his brother collide into his body. The reaction made Shiro feel ecstatic and his arms wrapped Keith into a solid hug, but eventually, he motioned for Ryo to join them.

"Yeah, no. Way too old for that Takashi."

Shiro felt Keith tense up before pulling away. Shiro watched a slight pink color appear on the tips of Keith's ears. Keith pulled away and darted towards Ryo and nearly got into his twin's face. "I'm driving home."

"No." Ryo pulled the keys from his pants pocket while Keith's hands started towards the pocket. "I'm driving."

"How come? You already drove." Keith's mouth's twisted into a frown and his thin fingers accentuated by the fingerless gloves he wore reached for the car keys. Ryo simply lifted the keys up and took advantage of the slight height advantage he held over his twin.

"I have the keys, and unlike you, I have a driver's license."

Keith attempted grabbing the keys. "The garrison lets me pilot their aircraft. I'm one of their top cadets after all."

Shiro found himself tired of the argument and walked over and snatched the keys from Ryo. "I'm driving. Argument settled. And Keith? We're going to see about actually getting your drivers license now that I'm home, okay?" His good mood kept going, yet something started nagging at the back of his head when he put his bags into the back of his car. When he got into the front seat, he saw Keith sulking in the back seat. "Let me guess? Ryo got to the front seat first?"

"No. It's not..." Keith quieted down, almost as if he wanted to say something yet quickly clammed up. For some reason, he was withdrawing.

"So..." Shiro let the engine roar to life and closed his eyes for a few seconds to take in the experience. He turned towards Ryo, who he figured might have the hardest time adjusting to a relationship between him and Adam. "I want to ask you two if you're okay with me getting into a serious relationship for once."

"About time," Ryo muttered before looking out the window. For some reason, the less emotional of the two twins didn't make eye contact either.

"Yeah, but you didn't let me finish." He definitely felt a headache coming on but hoped one of his episodes wouldn't occur while driving, particularly with his two brothers in the car. "The person – well, you already know them. They're an old friend."

"So? Isn't that a good thing? They can support you with..." Ryo paused. Shiro caught sight of how Ryo started turning his head so he might look at him but darted his head away instead.

"Except here's the thing. The person I'm planning on getting into a relationship with is Adam."

"What?" both twins exclaimed at the same time.

He, of course, expected the surprise from both of the twins. Ryo, of course, continued speaking, yet choked out his next response. "But you're not gay!"

Shiro glanced up into the rearview mirror at Keith and saw the boy tremble slightly. "Keith..."

"Are you crazy?" Ryo's voice raised up. "You're into girls. You _like_ girls."

"Yeah. Ryo, you do realize there is something called bisexual you know." Shiro shook his head in amusement but glanced up at Keith who simply became even more agitated. "Keith. You okay buddy?"

He heard Ryo twist around so he might look at Keith as well but saw a bit of worry on the face of the twin in the front seat. Shiro watched Keith turned forward and saw the tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry. It's my fault. I'm so sorry Shiro. I'm really, really sorry."

"What?"

"Pull over."

Shiro didn't like Ryo's demand. "I am not going to pull over just so you can take off on me just because you're mad, I revealed to you I'm bisexual."

"Shiro, pull over before Keith completely freaks out and we get into an accident."

He found himself taking a deep breath before pulling the car over to the side of the road. Shiro turned towards Ryo but didn't hold back his tone. "Alright. Tell me what's going on. Did Keith get in trouble again at the garrison school?"

"That..." Ryo looked out the front window. "Keith and I were going to let Iverson tell you, and no. It doesn't have anything to do with Keith getting in trouble."

"Tell me what?"

"Takashi-nii..." The twin who normally held his emotions in now turned towards Shiro with a rather pained look on his face. "Adam's dead. Your entire unit is dead."


	2. Unexpected Predicaments

"Why did you take a different flight from the rest of your unit?"

Shiro sat in the interrogation room at the garrison feeling absolutely numb. When Ryo told him his entire unit including Adam were dead he found himself unable to move. The reason he made it back to the garrison upon hearing such news was because he heard Keith's worried voice call out his name from the back seat. He started driving again despite the fact he probably shouldn't have driven given his current mental condition, yet in truth, he wasn't thinking about such things.

"What?"

The one good eye of the garrison commander glared at him. The scowl on Iverson's face didn't snap him out of the stupor Shiro now found himself in. "Are you even paying attention Lieutenant Shirogane?"

"Sorry. No."

"This is a serious matter."

"You don't think I know that!" Shiro snapped at his commanding officer. His mind registered the look of irritation at such an action making him suddenly realize what he'd done. His eyes darted towards the top of the table in the interrogation room while his hands clenched together so tightly his knuckles turned white. He took a deep breath so he wouldn't press his nails into his flesh and opened his mouth. "I'm sorry sir. I shouldn't have been insubordinate like that. It's rather a lot to deal with. Finding out everyone else is dead I mean."

"The person who warned you didn't tell you they would die?"

"What?" Shiro glanced up. "Keith wouldn't..." He paused realizing he almost said Keith wouldn't plan such a thing, but quickly changed his course. "Look. You know my family situation. My father died and I found out he'd been raising Ryo's twin on his own using a different family name for whatever reasons he did so."

"Are you saying..."

"I'm not saying Keith is a part of any master plan!" Shiro felt the panic rise up, but the thought of the garrison bringing in his sixteen-year-old brother for questioning on a matter he had nothing to do with honestly didn't sit well. "I'm simply saying Keith was anxious for me to get home. He's still getting used to not only being a part of our family unit, but he's anxious about being apart from me. I mean, our father died in a fire he was fighting here on the garrison base. You know all of this." Shiro swallowed and looked at the table. "You're the one who told me Keith existed, remember."

Iverson let out a deep sigh. "I'm sorry for this line of questioning Shirogane." The more formal address he used was slightly out of character, and yet the man knew their family situation all too well. "With the investigation into why the plane the rest of your crew was on, we need to ask these questions. It's not like you to separate from the rest of your crew, but in the past Keith wasn't a factor. This said..."

"Please." Shiro clenched his hands together. "It really was as simple as Keith being anxious for me to be home, but he's upset about this like I am. We're both blaming ourselves for what happened."

"I was going to say I want you into counseling, particularly given your recent action and the fact you were showing signs of PTSD before returning, but from the sounds of it your brother may be in need of counseling as well."

A frown spread across Shiro's face. His body relaxed slightly, yet he found himself still feeling anxious regarding the matter and for some reason felt the investigative line might easily return to him and his brother at any time. "I'll see. Keith hates seeing the shrink. I need to..."

"You need to what?"

"I don't know." Shiro closed his eyes wondering what he should do now. He opened them and looked Iverson in the eye. "Is this done?"

"For now. You can take your leave lieutenant."

The garrison piolet took a deep breath and stood up. In the back of his mind, a voice kept saying those words confirmed his fears that he and possibly even Keith might find themselves dragged into interrogation again. He also found himself wishing he'd never enrolled Keith into the garrison school, and yet doing so allowed him the ability to keep an eye on Keith and his younger brother's current emotional state after the death of their father who was, in fact, the only person involved in Keith's life personally.

He left the room and took a deep breath and tried relaxing.

"Lieutenant Shirogane?"

Shiro's eyes snapped open and his head turned towards his fellow garrison soldier. He found himself taking a deep breath upon recognizing the soldier as one of the garrison school's teachers. "What did Keith do this time?"

The soldier swallowed, but her eyes glanced at the ground. "He's at the principle's office for getting into another fight."

He smiled at her despite the fact he honestly didn't feel like smiling because doing so was the polite thing to do. "Thank you for telling me. I'll take care of the situation right now."

Shiro watched his fellow soldier walk away. When they were gone he took a deep breath in an attempt at readying himself for what would likely be a rather trying situation. He walked at a steady pace until he reached the principle's office and found Keith sitting on the bench just outside. The student being disciplined with Keith looked up at him with admiration in his eyes, and yet Shiro wasn't sure he wanted anything to do with a kid who picked on his brother.

After all, the fights Keith got into didn't just happen on a whim. Someone goaded him into the fight. "Keith..."

The other student sported a black eye and his facial features twisted into a frown upon hearing Shiro – the garrison hero almost all the garrison students idolized – ignore him in favor of the person he'd just gotten into a fight for, but in the back of Shiro's mind he thought the other boy might feel Keith was the one in the wrong and not him. Keith simply looked at the ground. "Sorry."

"Why did you get into a fight with this kid anyway?"

"My name's Lance."

Shiro took a deep breath. Today simply wasn't his day.


	3. Ultimatums

Shiro swallowed yet wished his swallowing was like a knife which could cut the tension in the current situation.

Keith, of course, refused to look his brother in the eye. The routing wasn't anything new, yet the guilt on Keith's face always made Shiro wish he could do something to alleviate his younger brother's social anxiety issues. The cause of the fights Keith found himself in almost always stemmed from not getting along with another kid because they pushed the wrong button emotionally or Keith pushed the wrong button by not knowing how to properly act socially.

"What happened this time Keith?"

Keith remained quiet and looked at the ground. Eventually, he said. "I'm sorry."

"Keith..."

His younger brother looked up with a look which always broke Shiro's heart every time, yet today's Shiro's heart was already breaking. "I didn't start it this time."

"Show off." The other young man who said his name was lance crossed his arms across his scrawny chest and glared at Keith.

Shiro's dark eyes drifted from Keith to Lance. Shiro found himself swallowing again before turning his attention towards Keith. "Keith, were you showing off on the similiter again?"

Keith's lower lip trembled slightly, yet Keith also continued not looking Shiro in the eye. "I'm sorry."

" _Hey, Keith._ " Adam's voice echoed through Shiro's head. " _I know you're really good at piloting and thus the basics seem boring, but I want to see how well you can stay within the lines of what we want you to do because for you that's actually a challenge? Okay?_ "

Shiro sat down next to Keith and looked at the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lance on the other side of Keith quiver slightly yet Shiro knew his number one priority was his younger brother and not another cadet even if the other cadet might adore the attention from the garrison idol. "How are you doing?"

Keith's head darted up while Lance continued scowling. "What do you mean? Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

"Adam was your favorite instructor, wasn't he?"

"It's all my fault."

"No, it isn't Keith."

"Takashi Shirogane?"

Shiro's head darted up upon hearing the voice of the principle. The principal stood with their arms crossed, but the look on their face indicated deep-seated displeasure regarding the fight Keith found himself in. Shiro clapped a hand onto Keith's leg. "I've got to talk to the person in charge buddy."

"I'm really sorry Shiro."

"I know buddy." Shiro stepped into the office knowing full well what the principal wanted to say.

"This has got to stop."

"This is the first fight Keith's gotten into this year."

"That doesn't change the fact that cadet has a rather long disciplinary action record. We've told you over and over again the only reason he's still in the program is a favor to you, but it's not surprising that one of the students reacted negatively when Keith's been getting special treatment from Iverson such as getting the morning off."

Shiro felt the corners of his mouth twisting slightly. "Look. As I said, Keith's been really good this year, but it's not surprising he's having an off day given the fact he just found out Adam's dead, yet here you are trying to give the other kid a pass simply because of possible jealousy regarding the special treatment Keith got this morning."

"You know full well that information's not been revealed to the general public let alone the cadets."

"Keith didn't find out from me."

"Then how did he find out?"

"I was supposed to be on that flight, so of course he would know."

"Again, you're revealing information you shouldn't."

Rarely did Shiro's temper flare and explode. His hands slammed down onto the desk. "Look! The exact nature of our family situation is private, but you know as do all of Keith's instructors that I'm his legal guardian. So, of course, he would have information regarding when I'm returning, but that's the reason he was given the morning of which is no different than any other cadet with family at the garrison in the same situation.

The principal looked up at him with a look saying they didn't care. "Speaking of your status as his legal guardian there are rumors floating around regarding an inappropriate relationship between you two among the cadets.

Shiro let his eyes narrow and his right arm lifted so he could point his finger at the principle's face. "Look, whatever vendetta you personally have with me, fine." His hand slammed down onto the desk again. "Go after me however much you want. I don't care. Go after either of my siblings and I will raise hell."

One of the principle's eyebrows rose up. Any intent of responding was forgotten when something from behind Shiro caught his eye and they stood up. The panicked expression on the principal's face made Shiro turn and look through the glass. Shiro's dark eyes took in the sight of the other boy who said his name was Lance now standing up and shouting at Keith for some reason.

"Oh shit." Shiro started towards the door.

"You do understand my ultimatum of keeping him out of trouble?"

"I get it. I get it." Shiro hurried through the door. "Hey!"

He watched Lance swallow while Keith continued sitting on the bench just outside of the principal's office with his arms crossed. Keith's facial features twisted up in annoyance at the antics of his fellow cadet but quickly fell into guilt when Shiro left the room. Shiro wondered if the guilty look came from Keith doing something, he should feel guilty about or simply because Keith felt guilty regardless of whether he did something wrong or not.

The other young cadet swallowed but sucked in his lip while watching Shiro _still_ pay more attention to Keith than him. Lance opened his mouth as if to protest, but Shiro didn't find out if he was.

" _Neito_!"

Shiro watched both cadets cringe. A look of guilt appeared on Lance's face, but Shiro recognized the Spanish word for grandson. A smirk crossed Shiro's face upon remembering how much he hated doing anything which might upset his own grandmother, yet watching Keith made the smirk quickly falter. His younger brother shrunk back upon seeing the rather outgoing family of his fellow cadet.

The elderly woman moved with a gusto which belayed she wasn't frail like she looked, but her energy almost overwhelmed even Shiro. Her soft hands reached out and clasped Lance's chin and looked at Lance's black eye. "Who did this to you _neito_?"

Shiro watched Lance glance over at Keith, but he found himself tensing up as the woman with curly brown hair hurried forward and got into his face. " _Why_ did this kid clobber my _sobrino_?"

"A..." Shiro's eyes blinked, but his throat tightened with how in the face the woman was.

Lance's blue eyes widened but choked out what he said next. "Aunt Penelope..."

A man who looked familiar watched the tense situation while standing next to two other teens. "So, this is Lance's grandmother..."

"My name is Lydia Margarita del Carmen Inclan Maribona Leyte-Vidal de Riera." The grandmother turned her head and looked at Shiro. Keith started sliding off the bench slightly.

The man who still looked familiar took a deep breath and spoke faster. "His aunt Penelope Alvarez and his cousins Elena and Alex Alvarez."

The teenaged girl rolled her eyes in annoyance. "We didn't need an introduction, Schneider."

Shiro swallowed. "And you are."

"Their landlord."

Shiro felt his eyebrow twitch, yet he couldn't help but feel slightly off-put by how friendly _their_ landlord seemed to be. The woman who got right in his face glanced back at the man named Schneider in a slightly disproving manner yet turned back towards Shiro with an even more displeased look on her face. "Well? Are you the legal guardian of this boy?"

"Aunt Penelope..." Lance swallowed, but the color drained from his face.

"Well? Why did he punch my _sobrino_ "

Keith bolted towards the door while Shiro's head jerked slightly so he might see where Keith was headed. He started turning so he might follow after Keith.

"Stop! I'm not finished with you."

"It was my fault!" Lance's hands clenched the edge of his seat and turned his head away. The young man didn't look anyone in the eye.

Shiro took a deep breath. "Look. I've got to go."


	4. Happen Stance

" _Could you see to Lance? He's in the principle's office at the Garrison._ "

Savory smells wafted in from the kitchen as Lydia cooked one of her traditional Cuban meals. Penelope's brown eyes blinked a couple of times upon hearing the words from her niece Veronica. "He's what?"

Elena glanced up from pulling her latest activism project out of her backpack. Penelope's oldest turned slightly while pushing up her eyeglasses while she slouched over the table. "He who?"

Penelope held up a finger indicating she needed quiet so she could hear the conversation on the other side of the phone. "Why is he in the principal's office?"

Lydia waved at Penelope with a flick of her hand. "You tell whoever it is that _Papito_ is right here in his room. He and Elena just got back from school. Plus, our _Papito_ wouldn't do anything to end up in the principal's office."

Penelope's mouth twisted slightly at the corners of her mouth as her fingers waved in a manner which indicated she needed silence. Veronica remained silent for a few minutes and then said, " _He got into a fight._ "

"He what?" Penelope puffed out her chest slightly yet took a tone which indicated nobody should mess with mama. "He can expect hell from me for that."

" _I was kind of hoping for that. Mom thinks he can't do anything wrong, but our parents are out on the farm so it's harder for them to get to the garrison. As such I've been dealing with this, but I'm his sister so..._ "

"Not a problem. It will be a bit until I get there. Do they know I'm coming?"

" _Yes. You're on his emergency contact, but you're free to bring the rest of the family with you._ _Thanks for doing this Aunt Penelope._ "

"Any time." Penelope let her lips press together and she turned towards her mother. "So..."

"Alex is in his room and he is most definitely not in trouble." Lydia wiped her hands on a towel. "You didn't tell them that."

"It's Lance."

The Cuban grandmother threw her thin hands up into the air. "Are you kidding?" Lydia's hands lowered and she wiped her hands again before she started pulling her cooking from the stove. "We are going."

Elena quickly sat up and looked at her mother. "Please tell me we're not all going. You know as well as I that Alex and I will kill each other if you or _abuela_ aren't home, but I've got homework to do."

"Go get your brother Elena." Penelope shook her head when Elena let out a groan and leaned into the table before standing up and storming over to her brother's room. The single mother's mouth twisted into a deeper frown when she heard Elena yelling at her brother and Alex yelling back. Elena soon came back into the main room of the apartment with her arms folded across her chest.

Alex walked out of the room and pointed at his sister. "Please tell me it's not her time of the month."

Penelope's frown twisted deeper into her facial features. "Don't go there _Papito_. Let's go."

"Go where. Elena wasn't..."

"The Garrison."

This time Alex let out the groan. "Really. I hate that place. And why are you going back there when, you know..."

"My PTSD won't act up simply by going to the Garrison, _Papito_ , so don't you worry about that. As for why..." Penelope took a deep breath. "Your cousin Lance got into a fight."

Lydia let out a gasp and placed a hand over her heart and said in Spanish, "my angel with the blue eyes? _"_

"Very funny mommy." Penelope grabbed her car keys and waved at the door indicating the rest of the family should proceed ahead of her. She heard her mother and children clamor down the stairs rather than taking the elevator and turned to lock the door.

"Where are you guys headed?"

"Hello, Schneider." Penelope wasn't in the mood to deal with the landlord and started down the stairs after the rest of her family. The Canadian born man followed after her. "I'm heading out to the Garrison."

"This late in the day?"

"My nephew got into a fight and his sister asked me to step in." She continued down the stairs.

"Ah... there's something I wanted to talk to you about." Schneider continued following her down the stairs until they arrived at the ground floor. Penelope's mother and children were waiting for her, but her son and daughter were impatient to be going. "I remember. I wanted to tell you about this very awesome guy in the apartment. Military. Works at the Garrison both as a piolet and teacher. I think he's got a couple of kids, so you wouldn't have to worry about a guy who wanted their own kids again."

"Schneider, are you trying to hook me up with someone?" Penelope put her car key into the driver's side door and unlocked the doors.

"Yeah. I think I am."

"Please don't." Penelope climbed into the driver's seat while her family piled into the front and back seats.

"But this guy is great Penelope. If I swung both ways, I'd date him."

Her mind didn't register Schneider's voice from the back seat. "I said no thank you."

The single mother started up the car and started on the half-hour or so drive out to the Garrison. Five minutes into the drive Elena spoke up from the back seat. "Why am I stuck between Schneider and Alex?"

Penelope's brown eyes glanced up into her rearview mirror and noticed the extra passenger. "Schneider!"

"You drove off before I could get out of the car."

"I didn't realize you'd climbed in!" Penelope shook her head in exasperation yet didn't push the issue. The family eventually arrived at the garrison and Penelope checked everyone in as the visiting family of one of the cadets. The military personnel signing them in stared at Schneider's name.

"We've kind of adopted him," Elena chimed in, yet the military personal brushed the comment away as non-coincidental.

Schneider fiddled with his badge. "I'm so glad my father and step-mothers never sent me to a military boarding school."

"Poor Schneider." Alex found amusement in what Schneider said and smirked.


	5. Power of Familia

Penelope led the way towards the office set up for the garrison school's principle, but Lydia surged forward when the family saw Lance. Seeing Lance with a black eye and the other boy without any injury made Penelope's motherly nature kick in at full force. She didn't hesitate to get into the face of the young garrison soldier standing outside of the principal's office with the other young man yet didn't notice her nephews look of discomfort.

She wasn't expecting Lance to say, "It was my fault!"

Penelope briefly registered the young man saying he needed to go and instead looked at her nephew in disbelief. She took a deep breath. "What do you mean?"

"Sheesh." Lance slid down and shoved his hands into the pants of his orange cadet uniform.

" _Sobrino?_ "

"That was Takashi Shirogane, okay?" A pair of blue eyes looked into her brown ones. One eye was slightly swollen from the black eye. "And you went off on him like that. Seriously."

"Who and what?" In the back of her mind she knew she should know the name, but for more than one reason.

Elena's eyebrows shot up while her arms crossed her chest. "You know. The guy Lance idolizes and why he entered the garrison school?"

Penelope moved her finger back and forth. "I am still not understanding. Why is this your fault? You're the one with the black eye."

Lance removed his hands from his pockets and tucked them under his arms. His blue eyes now looked away while Lydia continued looking her grandson over. "It's not fair."

"If it's that you're getting in trouble and the other kid isn't, I'll just talk to the principle."

"No. It's not fair Keith gets special treatment."

Schneider frowned. "Penelope, I'm not following."

Lance turned his head and glared at the man who was in effect a stranger to him. "I'm talking about the fact Keith's always breaking school records and showing off on the simulators, but he gets all of Shiro's attention. I mean, you saw the fact Shiro was here, right?"

" _Neito?_ " Lydia's soft voice drew Lance's blue eyes towards those of his grandmother. "You have your family."

"Yeah. You could have nobody like me. Do you know what I would have given to have anybody taken an interest in me?"

Schneiders words made Lance glare at the man again. Penelope took a deep breath wondering how she would finagle getting six people home if Lance was in fact sent home with her yet shook her head. Lance's lip formed into a pout. "Yeah, well, I don't see what that has to do with my situation."

Penelope felt slightly disappointed Lance didn't understand Schneider was telling him how lucky he was to have a family which cared, yet she found herself bothered by the fact Lance was jealous of another person's abilities to the point of claiming it was unfair. The door to the office opened and someone asked, "Are you Lance's Aunt?"

"Yes."

"Can I speak with you?"

"Of course." Penelope stepped into the office. Her head turned and looked at the glass pane separating the office from the seats outside. Her mouth curled up as she processed the knowledge the principal knew exactly when she and her family arrived.

"I wish to apologize profusely."

"For taking so long to ask me to come in?"

"No. For the behavior of Cadet Kagone." The principal sat down behind their desk. "His behavior was absolutely uncalled for."

"Are you referring to the fact he shouldn't have given my nephew a black eye, or are you referring to the fact there was no provocation?"

"The other cadets can't help if they're jealous of Cadet Kagone, so it is understandable if they react in a negative manner."

Penelope's mouth twisted slightly. "Are you telling me you condone bullying?"

She watched the principle's eyes blink. "Condone bullying? I'm telling you Cadet Kagone's outburst is unacceptable and we don't condone such behavior."

"I'm talking about the fact you condone letting cadets who are jealous of Cadet Kagone bully him until he reacts?"

"Cadet Kagone gets too much special treatment from the higher-ups simply because of who his legal guardian is, but Shirogane wanted me to excuse the Kagone's behavior because someone he knows died."

"Then I am right in assuming the young man I saw outside with him is his legal guardian?"

"Takashi Shirogane? Yes. Apparently, they're brothers, but I doubt biologically. Cadet Kagone is nothing like Shirogane was when he was a cadet."

A lightbulb went off in Penelope's head. "Wait. Is this Shirogane the garrison genius who broke records? The one everyone was singing the praise of back when I was still part of the military?"

"Well, yes." The principal leaned into their fingers watching Penelope carefully.

"So I am to assume you are allowing the other cadets including my nephew bully Cadet Kagone because you have some kind of vendetta against his older brother?" In the back of Penelope's mind, she found herself understanding the situation a bit more. Takashi Shirogane was someone who came around once in a lifetime – a certified genius. Keith Kagone seemed like yet another genius, yet like before there were people jealous of the natural talent who felt such natural talent was unfair.

The principal sat up straight. "There is no such vendetta. And they're not brothers, no matter how much Shirogane..."

"Familia es familia." Penelope glared at the principle. "That means 'family is family', but what punishment is my nephew getting?"

"Nothing. He didn't even throw a punch."

"But he did instigate the fight and goaded the other cadet into punching him?"

"Well, yes."

"Then you will follow proper military procedure, or I will take this higher up." A few minutes later Penelope walked out of the office.

"So?" Lance didn't look her in the eye.

"You're officially suspended like Cadet Kagone is."

"Wait..." Lance's head darted up. "None of the other cadets..."

Penelope took a deep breath. "You will also apologize to Cadet Kagone when you have the chance to do so, but you will do so because it's the right thing."

"It's not..." A quick glare from Penelope shut Lance up rather quickly.


	6. Unluckiness

Putting six people into a five-passenger vehicle was out of the question. Alex suggested putting Schneider into the trunk as a jest, but Penelope was far from amused regarding the idea of her family getting pulled over by the cops as she didn't want to explain what a bunch of Hispanics were doing with a white man in the trunk. The next best option was for at least one person to take the bus.

Lance instantly offered to take the bus, but something told Penelope that her nephew wouldn't end up at the apartment. Schneider of course only ended up coming because he somehow managed to end up in the car while attempting to have a conversation with Penelope. Elena of course complained. "Sitting between Alex and Lance is worse than sitting between Schneider and one of those two. Please don't make me do that."

This meant Schneider couldn't be the one to leave as Lydia took priority regarding the passenger seats. This, of course, led to Lydia volunteering to go on the bus which in turn was equivalent to sticking her in the back seat. Elena finally volunteered to take the bus back into the city as a life building experience and of course made her case brilliantly. Alex made his case far less brilliantly by saying letting Elena go wasn't fair,

Penelope felt far more comfortable with Alex going along with Elena. After a bit more arguing the plan was for both Elena and Alex to ride the bus back to the city and Schneider gave the kids money as Penelope had no cash on her and he wasn't being forced to ride the bus back. He was still stuck in the backseat with Lance who kept looking over at the man. "Aunt Penelope is this guy your boyfriend."

Penelope's eyes widened as she looked into the rear-view mirror at her nephew but saw Schneider pull one of his faces which emphasized what he said. "Oh no. Not that your Aunt Penelope isn't a wonderful woman. She's more like the sister I never got to have. I'm their landlord by the way."

Lance looked at Schneider as if he were some kind of creep. Penelope let Lance continue misconstruing the kind of person Schneider was out of amusement and as a punishment the entire ride home. Part way home Lance started complaining about Keith and how spoiled he thought Keith was as well as how Keith never suffered. Penelope found herself wanting to chide her nephew, but Lydia did it first and repeated what she's tried telling Lance earlier. " _Neito_ , you don't know how lucky you are."

Lance didn't speak the rest of the trip home and all four headed up to the apartment. This wasn't surprising as Schneider's own apartment on a floor higher up. Penelope unlocked the door to her apartment. "No games. No TV. Just homework if you have it on you."

"Ah, Aunt Penelope."

"Nope. You're in trouble."

"Penelope, about the awesome guy I mentioned..."

"Snieder." Penelope let out a deep sigh. "You're going to keep this up until I meet the guy, aren't you?"

"Well, yeah."

Lance's mouth twisted into a frown. "Aunt Penelope, I know this guy is the landlord, but..."

She turned towards her nephew. "Your _abuela_ adopted him so now he's a part of the family. You know how your _abuela_ is."

Everyone in the family knew about Lydia's charitableness to others and Lance nodded his head understanding at least somewhat, though the situation with Schneider probably wasn't something which was easily understandable. Schneider was Schneider who in turn motioned for her to follow him to one of the lower levels in the apartment hoping simply meeting the guy would placate Schneider. The landlord knocked on the door.

From the other side she heard a voice she recognized, "Ryo, stop picking on Keith. I've got to see who it is."

"Schneider!" Penelope hissed under her voice.

"What?"

"Why didn't you tell me the guy we met earlier was..."

"I didn't realize."

"That's typical, and he's too young."

"He is?"

"Yes, you..."

The door swung upon and Takashi Shirogane appeared. The young man's jaw dropped, but he looked majorly stressed. Penelope's lips pushed together as he looked at her in disbelief. "Please, no. Not today."

"I'm sorry for intruding, but Schneider remembered you were a tenant in the building, and I wanted to apologize for my earlier behavior as well as my nephews." The lie rolled off Penelope's tongue, and yet there was an actual truth to the lie; she did, in fact, want to apologize. It was also more palatable than the truth of Schneider attempting to hook her up with the young man particularly when something told her Shiro, as her nephew called him, had enough on his plate.

"Uh, yeah..." Schneider glanced around rather awkwardly. "Does anyone else think this ended up more awkward than they thought it would be? I'll be going now."

"I... why don't the two of you come in so we can actually talk." The look on Shiro's face indicated he was unsure of how to proceed.

Penelope took a deep breath and almost grabbed onto Schneider's sleeve forcing him to participate in the awkward conversation but thought better of it and let him make his escape. She stepped into the apartment and saw Keith sitting at the kitchen counter watching her. "I owe you an apology as well Keith."

One of Keith's eyebrows shot up, but a rather amused look appeared on his face. "I'm not Keith."

"I..." Penelope stared at Keith.

"Not funny Ryo."

Ryo shrugged his shoulders. "Keith went out the fire escape when he heard her voice. He likely headed to the roof again. He's lucky the landlord hasn't found him up there yet."

Shiro took a deep breath and didn't look Penelope in the eye, but she thought for a minute she caught a look of shame. She lifted her hands. "Look, I get it."

"What?" Shiro looked up with confusion while Ryo looked on with amusement.

"I'm a single parent myself, but I had time to get used to being a parent and didn't have to pick up the baggage left behind."

"Baggage?" Ryo looked at her with disdain. "You have no clue what kind of baggage our parents left us with."

"Ryo..."

"Takashi and I were stuck being raised by our grandparents because our parents couldn't be bothered to be in our lives. We didn't even know about Keith until..."

"Ryo, we don't talk about this."

"Keith's not here, so why can't I talk about the fact we didn't know about him until dad's funeral."

"Half-sibling?"

Shiro looked up at her with a rather pained look. "Some days I think things would be easier if that were the case, but other days I think it might be worse."

"Keith's my twin brother. None of us have any clue where our mother is, but our dad got Keith so messed up with whatever crap he was doing for the garrison, or maybe even off the books that some days Keith things our mom is an alien from outer space. Some days he thinks he's my clone rather than my twin. When I'm not stuck living – Takashi refers to it as visiting – our family in Japan I'm stuck babysitting Keith."

"You're not stuck babysitting Keith." Shiro's eyes closed and his hands clenched together.

"Stop pretending everything is okay." Ryo stood up and walked towards the hallway which led away from the main living area and glanced over his shoulder. "Because it's not Takashi.

"We don't talk about our family situation because it always brings up to many questions."

"You mean like the fact some if not all of Keith's problems at the Garrison school might actually be solved if the other cadets knew he was your brother?"

"Or my younger brother who struggles with socially interacting with people would have people trying to make friends with him for the wrong reasons." Shiro looked her in the eye. "Obviously you know who I am, so you understand what I'm talking about."

Penelope frowned. "I guess I'll be frank and let you know I found out from my conversation with the principle that she doubts Keith's blood related to you, thinks the other cadets are right in treating him poorly because they're jealous and she mentioned something about not giving him special treatment just because someone he knows died."

"That would be Adam." Shiro's lips pushed together and he glanced away. "You'll likely hear it on the news in the next few days, but my units returning flight didn't make it. Nobody survived, including Adam. He was..."

One of Penelope's eyebrows darted up. "My daughter likes girls, so not a big deal to me if that's the case."

"Almost. Didn't get a chance to say yes because I wanted to think of it and talk to my brothers first. I don't know why I'm talking to you about this, but I should have been on that flight mam."

"Okay." Penelope walked over to the kitchen counter where Shiro kept paper and pens. "I'm not mam any more as I'm retired from the military." She scribbled down her phone number. "If you need anyone to talk to, about what happened to your unit, things which happened while you were overseas, parenting, give me or my mom a call. I'm an open ear and my mother, well, she'll offer warm hugs when needed. Whatever you do, don't keep this bottled in. It's not healthy. I should know as both a nurse and someone with PTSD."

Lance really didn't know how lucky he was.

* * *


	7. Guardian Angels

Did everything start with a dream?

Someone other than Keith might describe his current situation as that, but for Keith, the visions he saw were too vivid for a simple dream, but instinctively he knew what he saw wasn't a mere dream. Everything he saw, heard and touched felt too real. Everything felt so real he felt as if he were escaping from the reality around him which constantly involved a lot of disappointment. Shiro, of course, was one of the people in life who knew how not to disappoint.

Keith explained how he felt about the visions to Ryo only for Ryo to give him a look. The look always asked what Ryo wanted to ask; was Keith honestly serious. Ryo chalked the dream of his supposed twin up as another one of Keith's many oddities, but a few times he overheard Ryo saying he wondered if Keith belonged in an insane asylum.

Many of the dreams Keith couldn't remember after waking up beyond remembering the visions felt real, but one dream he remembered vividly every single time. He found himself walking in a forest. There were no forests around the Garrison, and he'd never been to a forest, yet everywhere he looked was vivid with detail as if he were actually in a forest.

Eventually, there came a point where he couldn't move around and found himself unable to look any direction but forward. A gust of wind rustled the leaves on the ground and his eyes watched the leaves in front of him skitter across the ground. He found the sound of the leaves almost as haunting as what happened next; she appeared.

He didn't know her name but definitely knew her appearance even though he'd yet to discern her face fully. Sometimes he caught a glimpse of light brown skin. Other times it was the crystal blue of her eyes. Sometimes it was the point of her ear or her alien markings. Other times it was a glimpse of her angelic white hair. Not knowing her name didn't mean Keith didn't feel comfortable around her; he always did. The snatches of the voice he caught echoing through the forest had a tone which made him feel calm.

Everything started when this experience started changing. Her voice still resounded with him in a manner which made him trust her, but safety was replaced with the sense of urgency. She spoke to him in a language he knew wasn't English let alone any Earth language he recognized, yet somehow he understood her alien words. She wanted to warn him about something terrible coming and he found himself faced with a rapid succession of images he couldn't remember. That is, except one.

Keith found himself sitting in a plane filled with soldiers. Somehow he knew they were headed home. Something made the plan lurch and start going down. An alarm of some kind went off, yet Keith could never remember if it was a light, a sound, or a voice. He found himself turning at the moment the soldiers started preparing for a crash landing and saw Shiro looking him right in the face. Keith always awoke before the plane crashed and he heard her voice.

Her alien words said, "Don't let him."

Waking from the dream and hearing those words left in a panic, but he found himself uttering panicked babble during Shiro's next allotted video call. Ryo was running late and thus Keith spoke to Shiro by himself. "Don't."

"Keith, what do you mean by that?"

"Don't fly. Come home. Come home now."

"Keith, I've got to fly to get home."

Keith swallowed. "If you fly, you die. Don't take the flight home. Get home faster."

Normally Ryo was the only one who started at him as if he'd grown a second head, but now Shiro did as well. Despite this Shiro said as the door to their apartment opened, "Okay. I'll go ahead and take a commercial flight."

"Why is Takashi taking a commercial flight?" Ryo walked over so he could appear on the screen as well. A frown appeared on his face. "Sorry I'm late, Takashi. I was out on a grocery run." Ryo's hand touched the top of Keith's head much to Keith's annoyance. "This one's idea of shopping for groceries is apparently tuna and instant ramen."

"Hey, don't you worry about why I'm taking a commercial flight, okay?"

The knowledge Shiro was taking a commercial flight calmed Keith down, and yet the visions still came as he slept at night, although his he no longer saw the vision of Shiro dying and she no longer said, "Don't let him."

Keith wasn't surprised when he was pulled from his early morning classes as he and Ryo were headed to the airport to pick up Shiro. The look on Commander Iverson's face and the manner in which some of the higher up soldiers moved said something was wrong, but even Ryo picked up on the fact something was off. As the family of a soldier from the unit, they were informed of the news even though Shiro took an earlier flight than the others. The connection between the downed aircraft, Shiro miraculously being alive and the vision didn't click, though, until Shiro started talking about Adam.

Guilt set in.

Shiro was saved because of the vision Keith dreamed, but everyone else in Shiro's unit was dead. Keith felt guilty for not having done more, but for also seeing how hurt Shiro was at finding out. He also felt guilty as the visions felt so vividly real Keith felt he should have known. Articulating his guilt proved an impossibility, for who would believe him about the visions; Keith doubted even Shiro would believe him.

They arrived back at the garrison and Shiro was called in to talk to Iverson while Ryo headed home and Keith headed to class. He walked into the class and felt every pair of eyes on him, yet felt as if every single one knew he was guilty of withholding information. Keith was at first thankful his current class was the one which allowed the students a chance at the simulators; he enjoyed the chances of piloting and didn't think much of what he did beyond the fact it distracted him from everything which went wrong.

"Hey!" Keith felt a hand on his shoulder when he left the similiter. Keith turned and found himself looking at a young man with light brown skin, brown hair and blue eyes. "How many times have we told you to stop showing off? They're going to kick you down to being a cargo piolet for space travel."

Keith brushed the other cadet's hand off his shoulder and started walking away. In the back of his head, he told himself one of the last things Shiro needed was him getting into trouble, but more than one person told him to ignore the comments and ignoring was easier than trying to navigate the school's social structure.

"Hey! I'm talking to you! Don't ignore me." The young man grabbed onto Keith in a manner which allowed him to force Keith to turn around. "Is that how lowly you think of your rival?"

It wasn't the fact the other student touched him which made him lash out despite the fact this was definitely a no go area for Keith. It was the fact the other students started laughing at the running joke. Keith was the top student at least when it came to the simulators; he wasn't sure about the other classes beyond the fact Shiro was fine with the grades he made. The kid in front of him was at the bottom of the class and thus the word rival didn't aptly apply.

Keith's frustrations boiled over and he punched the kid, which in turn caused trouble for Shiro.

Shiro ended up leaving the garrison early for the day and taking Keith home to the apartment they shared with Ryo, but Shiro didn't pry despite the fact Keith wanted him to even if he couldn't manage an answer. Shiro responding in silence was worse than being yelled out by Ryo who was frustrated Keith had managed in doing _it_ again, _it_ being simply messing up. Hearing the voice of his _not_ rival at the front door of their apartment was too much and Keith headed to the roof via the fire escape.

The roof was one of his favorite hiding places, but nobody ever found him except Shiro. He sat on the roof and buried his face into his knees which he pulled in close. He eventually flopped onto his back and stared at the clouds and the changing colors of the sky which indicated the sun was setting and dozed off. At least, Keith thought he dozed off as he had the dream again.

This time the most vivid image given was that of a purple-furred monster with bat-like ears and her words were, "they're coming, beware".

He didn't wake up right away like the other times and saw her walking away, and he found himself reaching out for the person his mind processed as _his_ guardian angel. "Allura!"

"You shouldn't be up here. You'll catch a cold, particularly in this weather."

Keith's eyes blinked a few times as he saw himself looking up from where he still lay on his back with his hand stretched out. He saw in front of him the landlord of the aunt of that boy. The man looked down at him through a pair of glasses and the hood of his plastic poncho. Keith's eyes blinked a few times as he mentally processed the fact rain was coming down soaking him. "What?"

"I really shouldn't let you come up here as it is dangerous and a liability, given the fact I'm a landlord of this building."

"Oh..." Keith closed his eyes as he processed what the man said and the implications. That kid's aunt lived in _this_ building.

"But you've never caused any harm coming out here to think and needed the space. I only came out because I figured you would be up here given the fact you've had a bad day, so when the rain started up I figured I'd come and get you. Your brother's likely worried about you."

"Shiro?" Keith's mouth twisted into a frown and sat up. "I'm not sure if he actually is my real brother." His eyes looked at his now soaked boots. "Why does he even bother if we're not related?"

"Can I tell you something?"

Keith looked up and saw the man extending his hand to help him up, but he didn't take the hand.

"It really doesn't matter if this Shiro is your family by blood or not. What matters is he acts like family when it does count. I should know as my father and step-mothers never gave me the time of day. Instead, it was a little old lady named Lydia Margarita del Carmen Inclan Maribona Leyte-Vidal de Riera. I'll never forget her name, or how she treated me like family when I was in rehab. My father never showed. And you know what?"

"What?"

"I'll never, ever forget her name, but I'll do anything for her and her family. She's the reason I'm a better person today and I live each day to prove I am a better person because of her. Shiro is that person for you, so embrace it." The landlord continued holding out his hand. "Now let's get you out of this rain and back to your Shiro. As I said, he's likely started worrying about you because of the rain, but I'd rather you not try climbing back down the fire escape to get to your apartment. Okay?"

"Okay." Keith wasn't sure if things were okay, but took the man's hand and filed his advice into the back of his head.


	8. Freakishly

The water in his boots made a squelching sound as headed inside with Schneider. He watched the building's landlord put away his rain gear by tossing it into his apartment before following Keith down the stairs to Shiro's apartment. As Keith walked, he left a trail of water and Schneider let out a sigh of frustration. He nearly crashed into two other youth but kept his eyes on the ground.

"Hey. You're the guy who gave Lance the shiner."

Keith's eyes darted up. His mouth twisted slightly at seeing Lance's two cousins standing there looking at them. The girl waved her hands ecstatically. "We got soaked. Mom is going to be so pissed."

Schneider tilted his head back slightly. "Yeah. I don't think that's something to be proud of Elena."

The girl let out a squeal and hurried into the apartment nearby while her brother shrugged his shoulders indicating this was normal. Keith simply stared after them as someone started yelling in Spanish, but he heard Lance's voice. Keith started down the next flight of stairs while cringing; he recognized the tone of voice as the tone Lance used when he mocked people. He arrived on the ground floor and Schneider knocked on the door.

Shiro opened up the door with a look of worry on his face. His jaw dropped as his dark eyes looked down at Keith who was leaving a puddle just outside of the door. "Really?"

"Sorry." Keith ducked under Shiro's arm into the entryway of the apartment. He shivered slightly while Shiro looked out at the person outside the door.

"Sorry about that."

"No big deal." Schneider waved and headed off so he might clean up the trail of water Keith left.

Shiro looked down at the puddle now forming in the entrance way and closed the door. A sigh escaped his lips as his calloused hands reached out and tugged at Keith's jacket. Normally, Keith would protest but his eyes focused in on the kitchen.

" _Shiro! I made dinner!_ "

" _Seriously. It's just instant ramen. Big whoop._ "

" _Be nice Ryo._ "

" _I'd have made something else, but Keith wanted to surprise you by making dinner while you were picking Ryo up from the airport._ "

" _Not a big deal Adam._ "

" _Next time I babysit..._ "

" _I'm not a baby..._ "

" _Yes, you are._ "

" _Watch your kid brother, I'll teach him something a little more complicated._ "

While Keith could cook a few simple meals from a box Adam never got to teaching Keith some of the things he would have liked to. Keith felt his shirt yanked up and over his head making him let out a yelp.

"Sorry, but you're soaking wet and were just standing there." Shiro touched Keith's cheek lightly with the back of his hand. "If we don't get you warmed up, you'll end up getting sick."

"So?"

"So? You're not invincible Keith."

"I know that."

"Yet you don't care if you get sick?"

Keith's mouth twisted into a frown. He honestly didn't care if he got sick. "No, but..." There was something he did care about. "I..."

"I don't want an excuse, Keith."

"I was just going to say I do care that it upsets you when I get sick. I care that it upsets you when I get in trouble." Keith felt Shiro take his chin in his calloused hand in order that Keith might look Shiro in the eye.

"The fact you don't care about yourself honestly worries me." Shiro took a deep breath. "I've told you that you're amazing, right? And you could do anything you set your mind to if you just believe in yourself?"

"Yeah." A smile spread across Keith's face.

Shiro patted Keith's bare shoulder. "Then get yourself into a hot shower. Don't make me finish stripping you down and don't make me dump you into a hot bath."

"Okay. Okay. I'm not twelve anymore."

His cold cheeks flushed with embarrassment, but the hot shower did nothing to wash away the feeling. Eventually, he stepped out only to realize he'd not taken a change of clothes in with him. He quickly wrapped a towel around his waist and headed towards the room he shared with Ryo only to find the door was locked. Keith's eyes widened as he attempted pulling the door open.

"Ryo! Let me in! I don't have any dry clothes out here!" Ryo didn't unlock the door and Keith started banging on the door. "Come on!"

"Seriously..." Shiro walked over from making dinner.

Keith swallowed and looked him in the eye before looking down at his bare feet. "Sorry."

"Not you." Shiro knocked on the door. "Ryo, open up. I am not amused by this at all." Keith watched as Ryo opened up the door, but found himself looking at the ground upon seeing the look of disgust on Ryo's face. Shiro pointed at the floor. "Out. Now."

Ryo rolled his eyes before stepping out of the bedroom he shared with Keith. Despite closing the door behind him Keith could still hear the two arguing. Instead of getting dressed Keith slunk down to the floor and buried his face in his arms.

" _Keith?_ "

A chill ran down Keith's spine. He found himself freezing up as he felt someone wrap their soft arms around his neck to gently hug him, and yet he couldn't see their hands in front of his chest. In the back of his mind, he knew he recognized the voice.

" _Don't cry._ "

Keith stood up as he heard her voice again. He quickly pulled on some clothes and headed out to the main room. Shiro and Ryo both stopped speaking when the door opened. Keith pulled the chair at the table away as it scraped the floor and sat down. He let his head hang, so he didn't have to look either Shiro or Ryo in the eye, but his cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"What's wrong with you?"

Keith's entire body tensed up and his hands slammed down onto the table top. He found himself looking Ryo in the eye. "What's wrong? Everything wrong with me! I'm a freak!"

As Keith walked back to the room he shared with Ryo he heard Shiro use a chiding tone with Ryo. Keith plopped onto the bottom bunk of his bed and found himself curling up. He didn't dare look up as he heard her voice again or feel her touch. Instead, he heard Ryo come in and place a blanket over him. "Shiro and I had a talk." Keith froze. "And he's right. I'll try to be more careful in how I say things from now on, so sorry."

* * *


	9. At Fault

Keith awoke with a headache, but somehow, he managed to roll out of bed while still clutching his pillow. Normally he enjoyed seeing her face, but last night he wanted to avoid her. She felt, for some reason to close, and yet still so far away. He staggered into the living area where Shiro stood in his undergarments ironing the uniforms he and Keith were expected to wear meaning he'd taken the time to clean them the night before.

"Hey. I'll have your uniform ready to go in a few. Why don't you eat some cereal so you don't accidentally spill anything on your uniform."

He walked over to the refrigerator still clutching his pillow. "Where's Ryo?"

"He's on a conference call in my room. More privacy that way. He was starting to get a little worried that you weren't up yet. You sure you're feeling alright? You did get soaking wet last night."

"Japan?"

"Yeah. I don't know if it's family, his agent, friend, teacher..." Shiro stopped ironing and glanced up for a few seconds. "Honestly, he doesn't tell me those kinds of things.

"At least he knows who his family is, don't know what the purpose of an agent is, has friends, but also teachers he likes."

"Keith..."

Keith glanced over at Shiro. "Sorry."

"I get it. You're upset Adam's dead. He's your favorite teacher 'cause I can't be caught favoring you at school, and..." Shiro set the iron down. "Keith, how do the teachers and other students treat you?"

"We've had this conversation before."

"I know."

"The answer is everything is fine." Keith put his head into the cool refrigerator looking for the milk. "Or are you going to accuse me of lying."

"That's completely unfair of you."

"Well, that's what you'd be doing if you said it's not."

"I think it's more of you don't want to worry me, and that has me worried."

"Can I make myself eggs today?"

"Sure. Let me know if you need any help figuring out what to do."

"Yes, sir!" Keith saluted from the door but set about making his breakfast.

"Very funny. Don't get your teacher's any flack today, particularly since you're suspension this time lasted only part of the day."

Keith frowned as he cracked an egg into the pan. Shiro noticed. "Hey, you need to heat the pan first."

"Oh." Keith dumped the egg into the trash and started over. His mouth twisted into a deeper frown. "Shiro, why are they allowing me back after such a short time? They usually don't do that?"

"Iverson pulled some strings."

Keith frowned and flipped an egg. "You mean more favoritism because you're his personal favorite. You didn't..."

"Iverson is actually quite proud you've gone so far this year without getting into a fight, but he's also aware of Adam's situation. Plus, the principal refused to keep the other kid out for more than that."

"So?"

"So?" Shiro let out a sigh before hanging Keith's uniform where he could see it. "Move. I'll work on teaching you how to make eggs properly when we've got more time. Maybe this weakened."

"You're always busy." Keith watched Shiro's facial features twist. "Sorry."

"No. You're right."

Keith heard a knock on the door. "I'll get it."

"Wait. Who could..."

Keith opened the door and saw what might as well be described as his worst nightmare. The scary aunt was standing there with her nephew who was sulking. Lance was already in uniform, but his uniform was majorly wrinkled from having been worn the day before. Seeing them made Keith start to bolt. Shiro looked up. "Keith, don't you _dare_ go out the fire escape."

Mrs. Alvarez smiled at him. "Would it be possible for Lance and I to come in?"

Shiro opened his mouth to say something, but Keith beat him to the punch. "You need to take off your shoes."

"What?" Mrs. Alvarez seemed confused, but Lance looked at Keith as if he were an idiot.

"Shit!" The sound of a curse word leaving Shiro's mouth made Keith turn his head and look at Shiro. He glanced up. "Sorry. Let me get this off the burner." Shiro took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for not telling you yesterday Mrs. Alvarez that..."

"Penelope is fine."

The fact the woman was on first name terms with Shiro made Keith cringe. He turned and looked at Shiro. "It's okay Keith." Shiro smiled at him and walked to the door while wiping his hand on a towel. "It's traditional in a Japanese household to remove your shoes and put on house slippers provided by the host. That's what Keith meant, but I forgot to mention it yesterday. Somebody distracted me."

Shiro gave Keith a look indicating he was in fact that somebody, Keith glanced away. "Sorry."

Keith watched Mrs. Alvarez nudge Lance into the room, but saw Lance glance around the room excitedly. "So. We're here today before the two of you head back to school so that Lance can apologize."

Keith's eyes blinked. "Wait. I..."

Penelope shook her head slightly. "Uh-uh. Lance first as he started it."

Lance looked at the floor in annoyance. "I'm sorry for saying the things I said to you yesterday."

Keith stared for a few seconds at Lance. He knew what Shiro would want him to do, but also what he wanted to do, yet he was surprised to hear one of the other cadets apologizing to him. Eventually, though he said without prompting, "I'm sorry I punched you." It was at that point Keith noticed Lance's black eye was missing. "Hey, what happened to your black eye."

Lance glared at him. Keith felt a pair of hands clap down on his shoulders and heard Shiro whisper into his ear. "Keith, why don't you invite him to ride in with us today?"

Keith's eyes widened. "Wh..."

"It might be a good chance to make a friend."

"I..." Keith felt his mouth tremble slightly as he attempted getting the words out. "W... r... sch... r... y..."

"What?" Lance gave him a look that Keith didn't like.

Shiro touched Keith on top of the head. "If it's all right with your Aunt Penelope, Keith would like to know if you would like to ride to school with us."

"Yes!" Lance's blue eyes widened in excitement. "Yes, yes, yes!" He turned to his aunt and said something in a language Keith didn't understand.

Mrs. Alveraz looked at Shiro. "Are you sure?" Shiro gave her one of those looks. "Well, I guess it's worth a try and it would help me out."

"I call shotgun!" Lance started darting to the door.

"Hey! Keith and I still need to eat."

"I'm not hungry anymore." Keith looked at the ground. So far things weren't turning out the way he wanted to.

"Yeah, well..." Shiro let out a soft laugh. "I did kind of burn breakfast, didn't I? And after I lectured you about not cooking eggs properly." Shiro headed towards his uniform. "Keith and I've got to change into our uniforms first though."

Keith grabbed his uniform and hurried to his room. When he got back he found Shiro and Lance ready for them, but Lance called out, "Shotgun."

"I don't see a shotgun."

"It means I get the front seat."

"That..." Keith clamped his mouth shut. He didn't want to argue with the other boy about how stupid he thought that idea was or about sitting in the front seat. He took the back seat and found himself listening to Lance talk about how amazing he was, but also how everyone ignored him. Keith looked out the window, but every so often and saw Shiro glancing over at Lance. The look on Shiro's face was the look he got when placed into an uncomfortable situation.

When they got to school Shiro took a deep breath. "So, I'm still scheduled to start class today."

"Are you sure?" Keith asked. "I mean, after what happened yesterday..."

"I need to keep busy Keith."

"Oh."

"The two of you get to class, okay."

"Okay."

"Yes, sir!" Lance saluted Shiro while Shiro gave that look he got when something exasperated him, but Lance didn't notice. When Shiro was gone Lance started doing a dance. "That was so awesome!"

"What was?" Keith was confused, only to find Lance glaring at him.

"Except that. The fact you were there as well." Lance's comment made Keith take a deep breath as other cadets passed them by on their way to class. "I'm actually not sorry I told you that you're messing up Shiro's life. I just didn't realize how much."

Lance turned and left while Keith glanced at the ground. His hand tightened around his school bag which he needed to put in his locker, yet he could move.

"Are you Cadet Kagone?"

"Yes?" Keith glanced up.

"I'm Commander Sablan. If you'll come with me please."

Keith frowned. "If I don't get to class, I'll be in trouble."

"If you don't follow the orders of your commanding officer you'll be in trouble."

"Yes, sir." Keith hung his head as the man led him to an interrogation room. A sweat broke out on his body.

"So, you told your brother not to take the flight with the rest of his unit."

"Yes." Keith found himself confused.

"Why?"

"I don't understand the question. Why are you..."

"Cadet Kagone, we are investigating the crash and all suspects including Lieutenant Shirogane."

"Why? Shiro wouldn't..."

"Lieutenant Shirogane."

"Why do you think he did anything?"

"Why do you think he's not at fault for the crash?"

"He wouldn't do that to Adam."

The commander let out a sigh. "Seriously, referring to your commanding officers by their first name. What do you mean by that."

"Shiro likes Adam."

The commander wrote down a note. "Won't stop with the first names I see, but there isn't anything more to why he wouldn't."

"Shiro _likes_ Adam." Keith didn't understand why the commander didn't get what he was saying.

"Yes, but why did he not go on the plane with the rest of his unit?"

"I said not to."

"Why?"

"I didn't want him to die."

"So you knew the incident would happen."

"No, yes. I don't know."

"How did you find out?"

"Allura told me." Keith felt his chest tighten.

"Who's Allura?"

"An alien."

"Excuse me."

"She.." Keith felt a blush spread across his cheeks. "Shiro says I'm not supposed to talk about this alien stuff."

"I'm also your commanding officer and giving you an order."

"She looks human mostly. White hair, blue eyes, dark skin, pointed ears and pink marks on her face."

"Cadet Kagone, are you actually wanting me to believe an Alien told you about the crash?"

Keith glanced at the table. "I want Shiro."

"Excuse me."

"I want Shiro. Where is he."

"He's not here."

"I need Shiro..." Keith closed his eyes wishing Shiro would come.


	10. Emptiness

Keeping busy did nothing to stop Shiro from feeling empty.

His hand hovered with his black dry erase marker near the whiteboard in his classroom for what felt like forever. "Lieutenant Shirogane?"

Shiro turned towards the student who just came into the classroom. "Yes?"

"I didn't see..."

Hearing the student ask why Adam wasn't in his homeroom class when they walked by let Shiro's mind muddled, but his facial features fell as he attempted clearing his throat. A few of his female students walked into the classroom giggling among themselves while the student continued watching Shiro carefully. "Um, well..."

Shiro glanced back at the board where he'd still not written anything. "Isn't he in your unit?"

An influx of emotions made Shiro's throat catch in his throat as more students started filing into the room. His eyes drifted towards the ground. "Well, see..." He spoke in a low voice. "I didn't come back with my unit's flight. I took a commercial one."

"Oh." The student headed towards their desk as if the question answered their question. A pinging sound from the intercom went off and Iverson's voice echoed through the room. The television turned on and showed some of the senior cadets preparing to put the flags up.

"All cadets should be in their classrooms. Please stand while the color guard presents the colors." Shiro watched all his students stand at attention in their orange uniforms, but today he felt as if he were simply going through the motions. Any thoughts of finding solace in the everyday routine quickly fled, but he found himself taking a deep breath as he held back his emotions. After dismissing the color guard, Iverson said, "You may now be seated." The commander cleared his throat. "I'll start off today's announcements with some sad news."

Shiro's eyes closed as Iverson informed the cadets about the loss of Adam and the rest of his unit before asking for a moment of silence. Next, he informed the students they could seek counseling if they needed, but also mentioned they were still looking for answers regarding what happened. "Lieutenant..."

Shiro held up a finger indicating the questions could wait until Iverson was finished making the other announcements. Then the questions came, but he couldn't help but feel tired. His attempt at avoiding how he felt backfired, yet something told him getting the cadets into an actual routine like he wanted wouldn't be possible. After a few minutes, a knock came at the classroom door which in turn made a silence fall over the room. "Come in."

His eyes blinked slightly at seeing Matt Holt standing in the doorway with the garrison psychiatrist. Mentally he wondered if Veronica was pulling him from the class because she didn't agree with how he was choosing to handle his grief. "Cadet Holt. Professor."

Veronica looked him in the eye. "Cadet Holt came to my office and informed me Cadet Kagone was not in his classroom when he went to collect the attendance folder. If you'll come with me, I'll place Cadet Holt in charge of your class."

Shiro reached for his attendance folder and handed the item to Matt before following after Veronica. The door clicked behind him. "He isn't – Keith isn't with that cadet he got into a fight with yesterday?"

Veronica froze before turning to look at him. "Lance? Why would Keith be hanging out with my brother?"

His eyes closed. "So, my neighbor is your aunt?"

"Tia Penelope? Yes. She's our aunt, She's your neighbor?"

"She came over yesterday to apologize for what happened but made Lance come and apologize to Keith this morning. He rode in with us this morning."

"Why? Why would you do that?" Veronica shook her head in disbelief.

"I was hoping Keith and Lance might actually make friends."

"Takashi Shirogane."

"What?"

Veronica let out a deep breath, "Well, your heart is definitely in the right place." She started walking away. "Lance and Hunk weren't in class either. My brother is notorious for skipping class, but I wouldn't put it past him to try and manipulate Keith into joining him."

"Wait..." Shiro took a deep breath. "You mean to tell me..."

"By now they've likely been caught."

Shiro's eyes closed. "Seriously? Keith knows he's on thin ice with the principle right now."

They arrived at the principle's office and found Lance with the person Shiro assumed was Hunk. Shiro recognized Hunk as a rather shy young man who was known for being afraid of everything, yet Shiro had seen Hunk standing up for some of the younger cadets rather running away. He shook his head; on one side he wondered how Hunk could be drug into Lance's shenanigans, and on the other, there was no Keith.

"Lance. Where's Keith." Veronica stood in front of her brother with her arms crossing her chest.

"How should..." Lance glanced up at Shiro. A sigh escaped Lance's mouth. "Oh. I honestly don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I just..." Lance glanced away. "I headed straight for class."

Hunk let out a coughing sound as he leaned into his fist. "... skipping class."

"Yeah. That."

Veronica turned towards Shiro. "At least he didn't drag Keith into any of his shenanigans."

"I guess, but where is he?"

"Shirogane."

Shiro and Veronica both stiffened when they heard the voice of their commanding officer. Shiro turned and looked at the man in his one good eye. "Commander Iverson."

"I was just coming to get you."

A deep sigh escaped Shiro's mouth. "What did Keith do this time?"

Iverson stared at Shiro but eventually motioned for both Shiro and Veronica to follow him. "I take it then both of you are aware of the fact Cadet Kagone wasn't in his homeroom class this morning."

"Yes, sir."

"I fetched Lieutenant Shirogane upon being informed by one of the senior cadets." Veronica glanced back at her brother. "Where is he?"

"Then neither of you are aware that Commander Sablan is interrogating him without Shirogane's consent or your presence."

"That's against protocol!"

Shiro found himself quickening his step and heading straight towards the rooms used for interrogation at the garrison. He opened the doors looking for Keith but didn't find him until he opened up the second door. Keith sat at the table but was obviously upset.

How dare you!" The sound of Shiro's voice made Keith look up in relief.

"That is not how you address an officer who outranks you, Lieutenant Shirogane."

"You are interrogating my younger brother behind my back!" Shiro watched the color drain from Sablan's face.

Veronica stepped forward and pushed up her glasses in irritation. "This interrogation is over Commander Sablan. You know full well the garrison forbids the interrogation of cadets without the presence of their legal guardian or an advocate such as me."

"Out! Go back to your own command!" Iverson pointed at the door.

Keith's eyes blinked in confusion. Shiro turned towards his brother. "Keith, what kind of questions did he ask you?"

"He wanted to know how I knew the plane would crash."

Shiro stared at Keith in confusion. "What?"

"Allura told me."

"Wait. As in your imaginary friend from when you were little?" Veronica frowned.

Iverson looked her in the eye with his one good eye. "If you could take Cadet Kogane to your office, I would appreciate it. Shirogane, come with me."

Shiro followed after, but not before letting Keith know he'd definitely come back for him. Iverson led Shiro towards the science division of the garrison, but towards the office of Commander Holt. Shiro found himself glancing around. "Commander Holt?"

"You know of him?"

"He's Matt Holt's father, but he and his wife have been kind to me and my siblings." Shiro felt the corner of his mouth twitch. "And he's also researching aliens. As such most of the other scientists don't take his research seriously."

Iverson opened the door to Holt's office. The man looked up. "Iverson?"

"There has been another incident involving Kogane. I need you to show the tapes to his older brother."

"Are you sure? Hiroshi's wishes on the matter were quite clear."

"Just do."

"Lock the door." Holt took a deep breath and reached under his desk. A clicking sound indicated a secret compartment released. He pulled out a disc containing data. "You'll want to come over to my computer to see this Shiro."

Shiro took a deep breath. Holt opened up a video, but he recognized a much younger Keith.

"What is this?"

"Just watch."

What Shiro saw was a test done by Holt. Holt shuffled a deck of cards and asked Keith whether the cards were black or red, but Keith through the videos became more accurate but soon started guessing the actual suit as well. "Keith was part of an experiment?"

"Sort of. Keith was the only one we did the tests with. We even tried new decks. The fact your brother could do this. It honestly worried your father."


	11. Tia Penelope

Elena and Alex arriving home soaking wet was far from ideal, and yet her nephew also sulked on the couch. Both of her children were quite amused at their misadventure meaning neither were turned off of using public transportation. Alex's eyebrows shot up. "Did you know that the kid who socked Lance lives in this apartment?"

"Yes." Penelope smiled in amusement.

"What!" Lance sat up straight, but his eyes almost popped out of his head. "No, just, no."

"I think he was up on the roof," Elena blurted out. "Schneider was bringing him downstairs, but he was soaking wet."

"No surprise there." Lance shoved his hands into the pockets of his garrison uniform. "Always causing problems."

Penelope pointed her finger at Elena. "You shouldn't talk about others being soaking wet young lady. Shower, eat something, homework and then to bed."

"I've got the shower first!" Alex hurried off to the hallway which led away from the family area while Elena chased after him.

"Maybe we should invite the young man and his family over for dinner." Lydia bustled about in the kitchen preparing food.

"No! Abuela, please don't invite them over!" Lance slid down on the couch letting out a groan, but Penelope caught him rolling his eyes.

"Uh-uh." She pointed her finger at him. "Don't roll your eyes. More importantly, you and I are going to go and apologize for your part in today's incident."

"I didn't do anything! It's always Keith's fault! He's the one who..."

A quick glare from Penelope shut him up. Eventually, all of the children were in bed. "Do you think Lance did nothing?"

"I don't know mommy. The impression I was left with when I finished talking with the principle was that the other students at the garrison have gotten away with picking on Keith but pushing him to his breaking point." Penelope's mouth twisted slightly. Keith and his twin brother are being raised by their older brother. He's the young man we met today."

"That Shiro person? Wasn't _nieto_ complaining about Keith getting special attention from this Shiro person."

"Yes." Penelope sighed. She found herself sighing the next day over her lunch in the office of the doctor's office she worked at. The fact her co-worker put his feet up on the table didn't help, but in reality, she worried if she'd made the right decision when she let Lance ride with Shiro and Keith. Lance seemed more excited about getting a ride with his idol rather than making friends with the young man who honestly needed a friend.

"Did you hear about the plane the garrison lost?"

One of Penelope's eyebrows shot up upon hearing what Scott said, but she remembered something Shiro said to her the night before. " _You'll likely hear it on the news in the next few days, but my units returning flight didn't make it. Nobody survived..._ "

"It crashed." Scott brought his hand up and let it crash down while making the sound of an airplane taking off and crashing. "Nobody survived. It was all over the news last night."

She'd avoided the news because Lance was in trouble. Leslie let out a sigh. "Now, now. We shouldn't talk about that kind of thing where our patients could possibly hear." He glanced down at a piece of paper sticking to the sleeve of his white scrubs. "Oh yeah. Your niece called and wants to talk to you." Leslie looked up. "You didn't tell your niece was a doctor."

"I've mentioned it."

"I must have forgotten." Leslie's mouth twisted slightly.

"I didn't. Your niece is hot."

Penelope glared at Scott while Leslie stared blankly at the male nurse. "Why do I keep you around?"

"Because the female patients dig this body."

The doctor let out a sigh. "No. Don't remind me, Penelope. I'm a pushover. That's why I have issues with my ex-wife and daughter. Go ahead and call your niece."

"Thank you." Penelope retrieved her phone and stepped aside.

" _Hello_."

"Hi. Veronica. I just received the message from Doctor Berkowitz."

" _Why did you let Lance ride in with Lieutenant Shirogane and Cadet Kogane?_ "

"Why?" Penelope's mouth twisted slightly. "It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I believe Keith's older brother was hoping this would allow Lance and Keith to become friends."

" _Hold on a sec. Yes, that's who I'm talking to Keith._ "

"Wait? Keith's in your office right now? Shouldn't he be in class?"

" _Excruciating_ _circumstances_."

"There seem to be a lot of excruciating circumstances with this kid."

" _He's not a bad kid Aunt Penelope._ " Veronica switched to Spanish but suddenly cursed.

"What happened?"

" _I forgot Keith knows some Spanish."_ Veronica switched back to English. " _Correction. He knows more Spanish than Lance does._ "

"Are you telling me he now thinks I think he's a bad kid?" Penelope watched Scott's eyebrows go up. She lowered her voice. "Look. Put me on speaker."

" _What?_ "

"Just do it."

" _Okay. You're on speaker phone._ "

"Hi, Keith. Can you hear me?"

" _Um, yes Mrs. Alvarez._ "

"You can call me _tia_ Penelope, okay."

" _Tia Penelope?_ "

"There you go. I don't think you're a bad kid. More importantly, are you okay?"

" _Mmmm... am I?_ "

" _Keith, I can't answer that question for you._ "

" _Oh._ "

"Let me try a different question. How did things go with you and Lance?"

" _..._ "

" _Sorry, Aunt Penelope. I tried asking him that when I brought him here while Shirogane handles some things with Iverson._ "

"Keith, when my kids give me silence for an answer, I assume the answer is the answer I don't want to hear."

" _Oh._ "

"So, how did things go between you and Lance?"

" _He doesn't like me. I don't blame him. I don't like myself either._ "

"I see." A thought crossed her mind as she heard a door entering. "How would you like to come with Shiro and Ryo to have dinner with my family?"

" _What?_ " The loudness in Lance's voice made Penelope cringe. " _You can't eat dinner at my aunt's place!_ "

" _Really?_ "

Penelope heard the change in Keith's tone and noticed it was starting to become confrontational almost as if in defense to the confrontational tone Lance took on. "Lance. This isn't your decision."

" _Aunt Penelope!_ "

"Keith is invited over for dinner as is Shiro and Ryo."

" _Then I'm coming too!_ "

" _You're in trouble for skipping class again mister._ "

" _That's Keith's fault!_ "

"Keith's not the one who decided to skip class."

" _Yeah right! He hasn't been in class all morning. Has he been here the whole time Veronica?_ "

" _Seriously? Why do you have to be so antagonistic towards Keith?_ "

" _I am not!_ "

"You are."

" _Well, whatever antagonist I have towards Keith, he started it._ "

"Enough. Veronica, can I trust you pass my invite to Shiro? It might be on short notice, but your _abuela_ is already wanting to invite them, so..."

" _Really. I'm..._ "

" _You're in trouble, so no!_ "

" _Aunt Penelope!_ "

"Sorry Lance, but I've got to agree with your sister on this."


	12. Strange Changes

The fact he wasn't being punished didn't stop Keith from feeling like he was being punished, nor did knowing stop the other negative feelings rushing through his head. Lance's words from that morning stuck with him, but in so many ways Keith believed those words. The fact Shiro came to his rescue that morning with the commander who was interrogating him didn't help how he felt.

More importantly, Lance, the person his older brother wanted him to make friends with was even more pissed off with him than he was before, yet Keith honestly didn't understand what he'd done wrong this time. In fact, he didn't understand how he started the "antagonist" against Lance, but the way Lance spoke to him made him feel like the antagonist of the situation.

As such he didn't want to tell Shiro they were invited over to Penelope's, for in Keith's mind this would only make the situation worse. The garrison psychiatrist – after kicking her own brother out of her office and heading to one of the conference rooms to counsel students to oversee and help the councilors who were seeing to grief counseling as she did between when they rescued him from the commander and her lunch break.

It was a long time for being alone in a room even though he did say he would be fine on his own.

Shiro, of course, called Penelope while Keith remained silent but didn't ask Keith's opinion on the matter. The prospect of meeting new people was nerve-wracking, but Ryo somehow managed to get out of having to participate because of his job. Keith wished he might attend an online school like his supposed twin did because he wouldn't then have the hassle of dealing with people and not knowing how to act.

Shiro knocked on the door without hesitation. The woman that the strange man identified as Lance's grandmother opened the door with a flourish. "Welcome! Welcome!"

If this hadn't caught Keith off guard the next thing to happen did. The woman opened her arms wide before wrapping them around Keith. Keith tensed up at the sudden touch and invasion of his personal space, while Shiro seemed a bit nervous. The woman then ushered them in by pushing lightly on the middle of Keith's back.

"Come in. Come in. Our home is your home, so make yourself at home."

Keith tensed up and stood frozen in the living room area. Lance's grandmother bustled over to the kitchen where she was finishing preparing the meal and Keith slowly stuck his hands into his pockets. For some reason, the strange man was in the room sitting at the kitchen table. "Hola! When they say their home is your home they mean it."

Penelope came out of the hallway smiling. "Says the person who knows how to overstay his welcome." Keith's eyes widened in confusion only for him to wince when Penelope yelled down the hallway. "Kids. Keith and his older brother are here."

Keith didn't know when he stepped behind Shiro, but when the teenagers – two girls and a boy – came out, he was hiding behind Shiro. The girl he'd not met yet came over and grabbed his hand and shook it enthusiastically. "Hi! I'm Syd. I'm Elena's significant other."

"Syd uses they/them pronouns." The girl Keith did know spoke up.

"Why?" He watched Elena's face twist as if what he said upset her.

"I identify as non-binary."

"Identify..." Keith's mouth twisted a little. "What does non-binary mean?"

Elena's facial features changed from being upset to being surprised while her brother Alex started laughing. "What? You don't know what non-binary means?"

"No."

"It means Syd doesn't identify as male or female," Alex let out a laugh.

"So, I should not use the word she, or call them a girl either?" Keith's eyes widened in amazement. If I did, that would be rude and improper?"

"Yes." Elena's lips pushed together.

"Okay. Good. I don't like knowing that kind of thing." For some reason what Keith said made the – girl and them – scream in a shrill manner.

"Mom. If I didn't know this was the guy who punched our cousin out, I'd be asking where you found him. He's absolutely adorable!"

Alex's lip twisted into a pout. "What about me?"

"You stopped being so innocent and naïve a long time ago."

Lydia waved from the kitchen. "Come here _papito_. I still think you're adorable."

"I was joking _abuela_." Alex walked over and let his grandmother give him a hug. Soon dishes were placed at the table and they sat down. Lydia set out explaining each dish to their guests, but Keith for some reason found himself relaxing around the family despite how loud they were.

"So, what's up with that red jacket you're wearing?" Alex asked. "I've never seen anything like it before."

"This?" Keith glanced down at his jacket. "Shiro and I go out to the desert to ride hoverbikes."

One of Penelope's eyebrows shot up. "The garrison lets you do that."

Shiro cleared his throat. "Keith's already flying the actual aircraft like I am, but we also use our dad's old one a lot." Shiro turned his head slightly. "Actually, I think it was him who got Keith the jacket."

"Wow." Alex waved his hands. "That's like, awesome."

"Yeah. I know." Schneider nodded his head in agreement.

"Do you like Doctor Who?" Syd piped up. Their comment made Penelope and Alex startle.

Elena piped up. "Yeah. Do you like Doctor Who?"

"Who is this doctor you are asking if I like? Are you talking about your cousin? She's nice to me."

Alex leaned into his food in an attempt at hiding a laugh. Elena and Syd looked at each other before turning and blurting out exactly what Doctor Who was. Keith's eyes widened in amazement, but when they finished, he asked, "Do you believe aliens are real?"

This made Syd and Elena look at each other in amusement while Alex looked at him like he'd grown a head. The adults in the room excluding Shiro stared in confusion. "Keith..."

The tone in Shiro's voice reminded him of something important. "Oh. Right. Mom's not an alien." The looks on the faces of the adults switched from confusion to surprise while Alex now stared in shock. Elena and Syd squealed as they had before indicating they found his answer cute and adorable. While Keith didn't like looking cute and adorable, the reaction he received as far better than the ones he got before. "So, you don't mind the fact I'm weird."

"Of course not." Penelope piped up.

Alex let out a laugh. "You're not the weirdest person here."

"Hey!" Elena glared at her brother as did Syd.

"I meant that as a compliment. "Alex shook his head in amusement while taking more food. "I wouldn't change you two for the world."

"Oh." A thought crossed Keith's mind and he leaned over and whispered something into Shiro's ear. Shiro gave him a funny look. "Wait? Does that mean the answer is no?"

"No. It's just not like you to take the initiative like this."

"Is it possible."

"Well, I certainly can pull some strings to make it happen, but it also depends on what Ms. Penelope says."

"I told you. Penelope is fine. What is it Keith is asking?"

"You have experience with the garrison, so you know about the stay over program for friends and family of the enlisted officers and cadets, right?" Keith watched Penelope's eyebrows shoot up. "Well, Keith was wanting to know if I could arrange for a stay over for Alex, Elena, and Syd. Of course, only if it's not to much trouble."

Penelope frowned as if she were going to say no, but Schneider piped up. "I could chaperone if you want and make sure there is no hanky panky."

"Yes." Lydia piped up. "I'll even make food for everyone."

"Why not." Penelope let out a laugh, but she seemed pleased for some reason Keith couldn't figure out. Another squeal came from Elena and Syd, while Alex made a motion saying he was excited.

* * *


	13. Stepping Stones

His job as Keith's older brother was to protect him, and yet Shiro honestly felt as if he were failing. Normally he found himself asking Adam for advice, but Adam was in fact gone. There was nobody he could discuss the videos of Keith predicting the cards almost perfectly with, but nobody to vent his frustrations regarding the commander who took Keith into interrogation at.

Unfortunately, his inability to vent his frustration meant avoiding Keith all together until the final bell rang. He arrived at Veroncia's office and received a glare from her. "Keith..."

Keith of course sat on the couch with both feet on the furniture while crossing his arms across his chest as he didn't say anything. Veronica smiled at him. "Keith, aren't you going to tell him?"

"Tell me what?" Shiro watched Keith open his mouth only for his mouth to snap shut. Shiro let his tone of voice fluctuate melodically while his mouth twisted into a smile. "Keith..."

Veronica held out a slip of paper. "My aunt's phone number. She wants to invite you, Keith and Ryo over for a family dinner, but you should take her up on that offer. Apparently, it's also an invitation from my _abuela_ , and you don't want to insult that little old lady."

"Thanks." Shiro of course wasn't sure whether he should be thanking her or not, but he knew better than saying no. Keith was quiet the entire ride home, but they found Ryo headed out the door for the local recording studio he utilized. Keith watched Shiro make the phone call, but the look on his face made Shiro feel like he was a dentist pulling his younger brother's teeth. Of course, when he found out the dinner would be tonight, Shiro found himself shocked.

He explained Ryo would be unable to make it, yet this didn't hold Penelope back from saying Ryo could come another time. In some ways Shiro was frustrated that Ryo wasn't going with them, but he was also glad Ryo wouldn't be there to antagonize Keith. While Ryo had promised he would stop, there were still thing things he did unintentionally. The fact Penelope was already ready to invite them back floored Shiro; normally people would interact with Keith once and ignore them as a family unit after that.

Of course, Keith already punched Penelope's nephew in the eye, so they were past the first impression stage already.

This fact didn't prevent Shiro from looking for ways the evening would end in disaster. Lydia hugged Keith before Shiro could let them know Keith wasn't fond of being touched and he found himself stuck watching Keith tense up. Shiro wasn't expecting Elena's non-binary significant other to be there. He felt the situation almost ended in disaster, and yet the three teens took Keith's social nativity in stride.

Shiro finally started relaxing when the family accepted Keith unconditionally for who he was, faults and all, but Keith asking him about a stay over at the garrison was honestly a pleasant surprise. He couldn't thank Penelope enough for saying yes, but something told him she was majorly stepping out of her comfort zone on this one. Lydia of course gave Keith another hug before he left, yet Keith returned the hug, although a bit hesitantly.

Keith went straight for his sketchpad when they arrived at the apartment and sat on the couch doodling. Shiro smiled at his younger brother. "I see you're in a rather good mood."

"How can you tell?"

"You actually picked up the sketchbook assignment Veronica gave you without me prompting. You don't have any homework, do you?"

"I don't know. I've missed class for two days in a row. I'll probably have make up homework, but I'll make sure to get it done."

"That's because you want the stay over to happen?"

"Yeah. I like them."

"What did you think of the grandmother?"

"Is it possible to like and not like something at the same time?"

"Are you talking about the fact you like her, but not her hugs?"

"No. I actually _like_ her hugs, but I also don't."

"I think if you spend more time around her you'll come to like her hugs, though touch has never been your strong point." Shiro took a deep breath. "Keith. I need to tell you something."

"If it's that you're proud of me, I already know that. You have that look on your face whenever you get really proud of me."

A laugh escaped Shiro's mouth. "That wasn't it, but while we're at that, I think I should say Adam would be proud of you as well, if he were here."

"I know."

"So..." Shiro took a deep breath. "Do you remember how you Ryo would suggest dad had experiments done on you?"

"I'm not allowed to talk about that."

"That answer always concerned me, as that means the answer is yes."

"You've said that before. I'm not allowed..."

"I saw the videos." Shiro watched Keith look up in surprise. "Holt showed me."

"Why?"

"Iverson had him show me after you mentioned this Allura. Veronica says this Allura was your imaginary friend from childhood."

"I guess so."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"You wouldn't believe me."

"Honestly, I wouldn't believe what happened on the videos were true if I hadn't seen them. That said, I don't want to force you to tell me, but if you ever want to or feel the need to talk to someone, I am here for you."

"I know."

"I love you."

"I know."

Keith simply continued drawing in his sketchbook. A few hours later Ryo arrived home. He dropped his bag by the door and let out a sound of exhaustion. Shiro glanced up. "That rough?"

"Pretty..." Ryo paused. "Wait. Keith's in a good mood. Does that mean things went well?"

"Do you want to really know how well it went?"

Ryo let out a sigh and rubbed the back of his head. "Knowing you, you'll tell me even if I said no."

"Keith asked if Penelope's two kids and Elena's significant other..."

"Syd is non-binary. Do not call them a she or a girl."

"Good for them Keith." Ryo pointed his thumb at Keith. "Please tell me he didn't do something like that there in front of someone whose LGBT?"

"What does that mean?"

"Ask Elena the next time you see her. I'm sure she'd love to explain."

"He did!" The color drained from Ryo's face. He pointed his finger at Keith multiple times. "He did, yet you're saying it went well?"

"Well, Elena and Syd were actually quite understanding when it came to Keith, but so was the whole family." Shiro frowned. "And our weird landlord who invites himself over for dinner."

"I am not going to ask."

"Anyways. Keith wanted to invite them for a stay over at the garrison."

Ryo's eyes blinked before grabbing Shiro's arm and dragging him into the other room. He closed the door. "Please tell me you didn't promise Keith you could arrange that." Shiro opened his mouth to protest, but Ryo held up a finger. "Do you really think the principle will let Keith have this, what with his track record?"

"They might not, but Iverson will."

"You said you hated going above to Iverson's head because it made things worse for Keith!"

"Yeah. Because it made it harder for him to make friends, but now he has a few kids he wants to be friends with, yet they're the kind of kids I want him to be friends with. Even better, they're not his friend because of who I am, but if these are the type of kids who would look out for Keith and I won't have to worry about him making those kinds of friends."

Shiro watched Ryo place a hand over his mouth. "You mean we can openly state Keith is our brother without people taking advantage of him because of our personal statuses?"

"Yeah, I think so."


	14. Little Things

"Why did I say yes?" Penelope shook her head while waiting for her kids to arrive home from school and for Syd's mother to drop them off.

"Because you are a wonderful mother and love your _el ninos_ , but you also saw a young man who was hurting and hope that if either of your _pequenos_ were in a similar situation that someone would also reach out to help," Lydia spoke up from the kitchen where she pointed carefully at each of the dishes she'd prepared and packed in plastic containers. "Do you think I prepared enough?"

"Yes. I think you have mommy."

A knock came at the door and Penelope walked over and opened the door. A rather excited Syd stood there. "Is Elena back from school yet?"

"No. Not yet."

"I'm so excited." They leaned in close. "They're the new NASA."

"Something like that." Penelope closed the door only for Schneider to sneak in after Syd. "Hello, Schneider."

"I'm so excited," Schneider's hands clutched the straps of a backpack made for backpacking in the wilderness.

One of Penelope's eyebrows shot up and she walked over to Lydia and leaned over. "I'm not sure Schneider knows how this stay over thing works."

Lydia leaned back and looked at their landlord before leaning back in. "It certainly seems like he is preparing for the zombie apocalypse."

"Really?"

"I hear that's the new thing to say."

"Yes, mommy."

The door to the apartment flung open and Elena and Alex hurried in. Elena set down her backpack. "I've already finished my school work for the weekend, so all I have to do is check my travel bag to make sure I have everything."

Elena dashed off while Alex shrugged his shoulders. "My homework is obviously not done." Penelope gave her son a look indicating he wasn't to skip doing his homework. "Okay. Okay. I'll make sure to do my homework when I get back." She continued giving him the look. "Fine. I'll pack my homework so I can do it if I have time. Don't blame me if I accidentally lose it."

Penelope pointed her finger at him as he headed to his bedroom to fetch his items. "Don't pretend to accidentally lose it either."

"I'll make sure that doesn't happen." Schneider seemed excited. "I passed their background check, so I'm good to go."

Lydia leaned backward. "Is there any reason you think you wouldn't."

"Honestly, I didn't think I'd pass my citizenship. I did some _really_ weird stuff before I gave up drugs and alcohol. Some _really_ weird stuff I don't remember."

Penelope held back a chuckle of amusement. Elena came out with her bag and wanted to double check everything again, and _again_. When Alex finally came out Penelope glanced at her wrist. "Okay. Time to go." She pointed at the door. "March!"

All four of her charges walked out the door and down to the car. Schneider's backpack didn't fit in the back with the travel bags of the teens, so it went into the back. As such she heard complaints from Alex who somehow got stuck in the middle only for him to stop when she glared at him in the rearview mirror. Schneider held onto Lydia's snacks.

Shiro and Veronica greeted them when they arrived, but Shiro seemed a bit nervous. "There may be a small problem."

"They didn't approve the stay over?" The look in Elena's eyes said she was looking for a cause to fight.

Veronica pushed her lips together. "No. Lance somehow found out, but he also got permission for him and his friend Hunk to join."

"That doesn't seem like a problem," Alex said.

Penelope frowned. "I should have told you kids before we left that a lot of people don't know that Shiro and Keith are siblings, but that includes your cousin Lance and his friend Hunk."

"Why? Why don't people know?" Elena frowned.

"You three have seen how socially awkward Keith is when we had dinner over at your place. I didn't want people taking advantage of him because they knew I was his older brother."

"Oh. I get that." Schneider piped up. "I had a lot of people acting like they were my friends because they knew my father is loaded." He turned towards the three teens. "So, you guys promise not to say anything?"

Alex shrugged his shoulders. "I don't really get what the big deal is, but whatever. I won't say anything."

Elena glanced at Syd before turning back and nodding her head. Syd spoke u. "We agree."

"Good. I'll see you into the room you guys will be using for the stay over and drop off your _abuella's_ snacks. I'm rather glad she packed more." Penelope pulled the large bag further up onto her shoulder.

Veronica leaned over and whispered into her ear. "Why does their chaperone look like he's going on a camping trip."

"Don't ask."

"I kind of have to as I have to look through everything." Veronica cleared her voice. "So, you're all aware that we have to check your bags before the stay over since this is a military base." She glanced down at her watch. "Of course, Cadet Holt who is supposed to be your senior cadet for this is not here yet. He was actually picked because he is the one senior cadet who knows Keith is Shiro's younger brother. I can't imagine..."

A young man with brown hair hurried up followed by a girl with long brown hair. "I am so sorry. Out parents got called out on an assignment and I got stuck babysitting her."

"Wait. Does she know?" Alex asked.

"Yes. All of the Holts know." Shiro sighed. "Hello, Katie. I see you packed your own bag."

"I also brought peanut butter cookies and other snacks."

Penelope sighed. "Well, they will certainly have enough to eat tonight."

She also wondered what else would go wrong. The senior cadet stared at Schneider's pack. "Wait. Let me guess? I've got to check that?"

"Well, I'm certainly not letting you check any of the bags which may contain certain things the owners would not want a young man seeing." Veronica let out a laugh. "But it looks like I'll be checking Alex's bag as well, but I'll need to see to yours, Katie."

"Fine."


	15. Calling

"Is it really true that you requested a stay over?"

Keith found himself freezing upon hearing James Griffin ask the question, but even worse he was stuck in the locker room with the one person who tormented him even before he ended up at the garrison. "What of it? And if you're going to say something about my parents..."

"What? You'll sock me like you did during our first year? Real mature Keith."

"I was simply going to say I didn't want to hear it." Keith turned his back on the young man and quickly got dressed into his cadet uniform. He was tying his boot when James clapped a hand down on his shoulder, but he felt like socking the young man in the jaw yet remembered Shiro's advice. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Patience yields focus."

"What?" James let out a sigh. "Anyways, who exactly did you invite? You don't have any family that any of us know about, but last I checked you don't have any friends."

"Yeah. Who would want to be friends with Kagone?"

Keith pushed James' hand away. "It's really none of your business, but how did you find out?"

James stood up straight and let out a deep breath. "Lance. He's saying something about how it was his family you invited, which doesn't make any sense at all"

"Two of them are his cousins."

"Two? You invited more than one?" One of James' eyebrows shot up. His mouth twisted into a deeper frown. "Just a bit of heads up. You're not supposed to invite girlfriends on stay overs, but I doubt Lance would like that."

"Why can't you invite a friend who is a girl? They let girls into the garrison. But yeah, I can imagine he's not happy with that. I'm not sure what his problem is."

"Hey! I heard that. My cousin is also not into guys."

Keith's eyes widened. "Oh yeah. Elena's significant other is a them."

"A what?"

Lance let out a deep breath and walked over. "What is the deal with inviting my cousins? Also, did you really have to invite Elena's girlfriend?"

"Not girlfriend. Them-friend. Or is it they-friend." Keith's eyes widened. "Wait..."

"Say what?"

"You mean you thought..." Keith felt the heat rise to his cheeks. "I'm out of here. We're done for the day, so see ya."

"Has Keith ever stayed at the garrison?" One of the other male cadets asked. "He doesn't have a room at the garrison."

Keith slipped out and hurried to find Shiro, only to find out that Hunk and Lance would be joining them. He found himself glaring at the two. Hunk spoke with Lance but seemed nervous to see Keith around. Lance, of course, glared back the entire time. They waited in the senior lounge while waiting for Shiro and Veronica to return, but instead saw a very exuberant female in a dress.

"This is so exciting!"

Lance narrowed his eyes. "Who are you? Are you Elena's them-friend."

"Okay. Look. I may like guy things and hate the fact my mother dresses me up in these really girly things, but I am and always will identify as a female. Why is it people think that tomboys are transgender, because..."

Keith pointed at her. "She's not Syd. She's a Holt."

"A what?"

Hunk frowned. "How can we tell you're a tomboy if you're in a dress."

"Well, you better not think I can't do everything that you guys can! Because I can!"

"Who is this little pipsqueak?"

"Sorry! Sorry!" Matt hurried in. "She's my sister. She brought snacks and apparently your _abuela_ sent snacks as well."

Hunk's eyes went wide. "Oh my! Like, awesome!"

Elena, Syd, and Alex came in next. Syd looked around the room. "This is so amazing!"

"Yeah. It is."

"It's..." Alex frowned. "This isn't the awesome spacecraft."

"Yeah. That's going to be tomorrow." Matt sighed as Shiro let out a laugh. "This is the senior lounge where we camp out for the night."

"Ah. So the senior cadets get to hang out here?"

"Normally, but it's at night and past curfew. That means the senior cadets are either in their dorms or helping the teachers patrol for..." Veronica let out a cough while looking right at Lance. "Students who are out of their rooms."

"This is really, really cool." Alex nodded his head in excitement before sitting down on one of the couches.

"Yeah! It is!" Schneider looked around the room. "This is amazing."

Hunk pointed at the man. "Who is that?"

"The crazy landlord at the apartment my cousins live in." Lance glared at Schneider. Soon everyone was eating the snacks, but for some reason, things felt off for Keith. The fact Lance glared at him whenever Shiro and Veronica weren't looking, but they soon left for their nightly patrols, of which Shiro found himself dragged into because he normally didn't get stuck with the duty being one of the teacher's who didn't live at the garrison.

"So..." Syd raised her hands. "Who believes in aliens?"

One of Lance's eyes widened at Syd's odd question. Matt and his sister raised their hands as well. Matt shrugged his shoulders. "It's our dad's research. He hopes to eventually discover extra-terrestrial life."

Keith without realizing it raised his hand which in turn made Lance laugh at him. "What? You..."

Elena quickly raised her hand but glared at Lance. Alex raised his hand while wiggling his eyebrows at Lance for some strange reason. Hunk quickly raised his hand up. Schneider leaned forward. "Oh. So, what are your favorite theories?"

"I don't know. I raised my hand to annoy Lance, but if I'll go with one, how about _Alien vs. Predator_."

"My mother's an alien." Keith watched Lance and Hunk stare at him.

"He means his mother is a foreign alien and is trying to make a joke."

"N..." Keith felt his mouth covered by Matt's hand who leaned over and told him to quit while he was ahead.

" _Keith..._

Keith's eyes blinked, but he didn't hear some of the other theories.

" _You need to come out to the desert. You need to find me. Otherwise, it will be too late._ "

"What?" The vision of the purple monsters flashed in front of his eyes. He stood up and started out towards the place the garrison kept the bikes, but their voices started getting quieter.

"Guys!" He did hear Hunk's voice clearly. "Where is Keith going?"

" _Hurry, or they'll stop you. Find a way to bring them with you._ "

Keith quickened his pace. Matt waved a hand in front of his face making him turn his head. "Keith?"

"I've got to go."

"What?" Matt's voice sounded concerned.

"Out to the desert."

"He's loony. This is why I don't like him."

Keith arrived at the hanger and reached up for the keypad. Lance sighed. "Yeah. Only garrison officers have that code."

"Oh, good." Schneider let out a sigh of relief. "I'd really hate to get in trouble when I'm supposed to..."

Keith pushed the first buttons. Matt reached out and grabbed Keith's wrist. "About that..."

Keith simply finished punching in _his_ access code. Lance rushed forward and in front of Keith trying to stop him. "What the hell! Whose password did you steal?"

"Keith didn't steal the password," Matt said.

"You mean the rumors he's already flying are true?" Hunk piped up.

Keith simply walked over to one of the large rovers and typed in his code again before getting in. He buckled himself into the seat. Schneider climbed in. "Hold on. This isn't a good idea."

"It's a perfectly good idea," Keith said knowing full well she wouldn't call without a reason, but it explained why she came so close earlier that week.

"This isn't fair!"

"Cool! Mom is going to kill us, but cool!" Alex climbed right in.

Elena glanced around while Syd glanced in. "I'm not sure..."

"How come Keith has such a high clearance?"

"It's complicated. I'm not at liberty to discuss that." Matt, of course, knew about the experiments. "Keith, why are you doing this?"

"Allura said to."

"Wait?" Matt sighed before buckling in. "My dad is going to kill me, but protocol is protocol and I'm the only one who knows it. You guys do not have to come."

"Oh, I'm coming." Katie tugged Syd and Elena in by their sleeves, but Hunk hurried in.

"Don't leave without me."

Keith started up the engine while Matt typed something into his pad. Schneider leaned over. "What are you doing? Shouldn't..."

"I sent a message to my mom, dad and Iverson letting them know a certain protocol's been activated."

"What the hell is..." The vehicle roared to life, but Lance was knocked off his feet so his protest wasn't finished. Keith knew what he was doing was crazy, yet he needed to do it. He knew he needed to do it despite the fact Shiro would be very displeased.


	16. Unfathomable Reasons

The feeling something would inevitably go wrong was something Shiro could not shake.

In the back of his mind, Shiro kept telling himself he only thought what he thought because he was an older brother who fretted over his younger brother's luck so far in making friends. The fact Adam died also plagued his mind, yet he couldn't help thinking Adam would succeed in making sure things would go well even if something did go wrong.

"How are you doing?"

"What?" Shiro startled.

"You've not been in to see me or any of the other grief counselors since your unit died. I've gotten more out of Keith regarding how he feels than I have you."

"I've been worried about Keith."

"Just don't forget Keith worries about you as well."

Shiro attempted smiling at Veronica's comment despite knowing full well he wasn't in a good mood. The sound of an alarm going off made Shiro stiffen slightly. Soon after the garrison made an announcement. "This is not a drill. All cadets must remain in their quarters."

He glanced over at Veronica and saw the look of shock on her face. The patrol they found themselves on quickly became abandoned for checking in on the stay over party. Shiro felt his jaw drop when he saw none of the cadets or their guests were there. "At least Schneider is with them."

The look on Veronica's face said she wasn't sure if that was a good thing either, nor did the thought relieve her anxiety. "Where could they have gone? Actually, I hope they're not the cause of this."

Shiro watched Veronica's face contort in horror. "Oh, please no. My brother would, in fact, be the instigator."

"Are you sure? Because I'm honestly sure that it would be my brother instead."

"Not in the same way."

"We've got to find them." What Shiro said out loud, though, seemed like an impossibility. He found himself taking a deep breath wondering where they should start, yet in the back of his head, he knew they'd be drawn into taking care of whatever incident was going on. The radio crackled alive as if confirming his fears.

"Shiro?"

"Professor Holt?" Shiro swallowed. He didn't want to admit he'd also lost the two Holt children in addition to his and Veronica's family members, plus one significant other of the parties involved.

"Good. You need to head out after the kids."

"Hold on..." Shiro looked at Veronica in confusion. "How do you know the kids have gone missing?"

"I agree with Shiro."

"Oh. Veronica is there as well."

"Professor Holt..."

"Matt contacted us." Mrs. Holt's voice came from the other end.

"Thank goodness."

"Not exactly." Shiro felt relief that Matt was there with the group.

"What do you mean?"

"What my husband means is that Matt contacted us letting us know a certain protocol's been activated."

"What protocol?" Veronica glanced up at Shiro. "This isn't a protocol either one of us know about."

"It's a protocol set in place in case they ever came, but it also involved Keith."

"What do you mean by _they_ and why the hell does it involve Keith?" Shiro felt his throat tighten.

"Get down to the hanger and get a vehicle which will take you out to the desert. Iverson will fill you in when you get there."

The radio crackled off and Shiro looked at Veronica. "You should contact your Aunt."

"That's not going to stop me from going with you."

"I know." Shiro felt betrayed, yet felt the experiments on Keith were more than just simply seeing if he could guess the cards. Iverson looked up at them.

"You two must hurry."

"Why do you have a protocol involving my younger brother set up?"

"It was your father who set this up." Iverson handed Shiro a device. "This will allow you to track their vehicle."

"Why would..."

"The Holt's will contact you and fill you in as you head out there. You must hurry."

"That..." Shiro found himself frustrated with not knowing, but one look at Veronica said she too was frustrated. He got into the vehicle and turned on the engine while Veronica fiddled with the device. After calling her aunt and apprising her of the situation as much as possible she opened up communication with the Holt's as Shiro drove their vehicle out into the desert.

"Professor Holt."

"Did Iverson feel you two in?"

"No, he did not."

Shiro scanned ahead for whatever vehicle Keith and the others took out when his eyes caught sight of what looked like a giant ship. "What is that?"

Veronica leaned forward. "What in the world?"

"Do you see the Castle of Lions yet?"

"Castle of..." Shiro cleared his throat. "What we see isn't a castle. It's a giant spacecraft."

Mrs. Holt came online. "That would be the Galra. You need to get to the location of the Castle of Lions."

"What is the Castle of Lions?" Veronica looked up at the ship. "And what is Galra."

"Galra is an alien race, but the Castle of Lions is the location of Voltron which in turn is the one thing which will stop them."

"Hold on. What?" Shiro swallowed as he looked at the ship which was getting closer to Earth.

"How do you know about all of this? Some form of alien communication.

"It was your father who told us."

"Yes, but what does this have to do with Keith?"

"I don't know the specifics beyond the fact it ties into what you saw in the video."

"What video?"

Shiro swallowed. "Professor Holt was showing Keith cards and he was guessing what they were, but guessing correctly.

"Yes. That video. I don't know the exact details beyond the fact your father knew Keith was key."

"Yeah. But how did he know?"

"That would be your mother." Mrs. Holt piped up. "There were signs your brother inherited her abilities which is why she and your father kept him hidden."

Shiro's eyes opened and closed. "That..."

"She also sent us a message letting us know the Galra were headed towards Earth."

"Wait. Are you actually telling me our mother is an alien?"

"I am presuming that is the case. I, unfortunately, did not meet her before she left Earth."

Shiro shook his head. Everything he thought he knew regarding his parents wasn't true, yet what he was finding out was far from expected. The tracker lead them towards a mountain he remembered taking the hoverbike out to with Keith, yet they always stayed far enough they could simply see the mountain, yet even from the normal distance, Shiro could see something had changed. They drew up closer and saw the vehicle Keith and the others took parked right outside. "What is this?"

"I'm guessing you arrived at the Castle of Lions. I honestly don't know what it is beyond the fact you should enter the place."

Veronica said what Shiro was thinking. "You have got to be kidding me."


	17. Nightmare

"What?" Penelope felt her jaw drop.

" _Apparently we're taking a ride out into the desert for some reason._ "

"I heard that, but what reason?"

" _I'm not sure. Apparently, the garrison was prepared for this situation?_ "

"Schneider, what situation are you talking about?" Penelope watched her mother look up from the news.

" _Keith taking off into the desert because Allura told him to do so._ "

"Who's Allura?"

" _I don't know. I just know when the senior cadet in charge of the stay overheard that name he said some kind of protocol needed to be enacted._ "

"Schneider, hand your phone over to that cadet before you lose signal."

" _Hi. I'm Cadet Holt._ "

"I am the mother of two of those teenagers, but also the aunt of one of those cadets, and my daughter's significant other is in fact with them. What is going on cadet?"

" _I told them they didn't have to come, but they did._ "

"Next time tell them they shouldn't come."

" _Chances are they would have come, particularly since my sister is with us._ "

"Why is your sister with us?"

" _It's likely going to be all over the news, so I'll be upfront with you that my parents received a message regarding alien invasion._ "

Penelope's eyes widened as she heard the others with them speak up in disbelief. "You're kidding, right?"

" _No._ "

"You've got to be. How could the garrison have a protocol regarding _that_ of all things?"

"What's going on Penelope?"

"Hold on mommy, I need to get more information."

" _How? The only thing I know is it has something to do with Keith's parents. They're the ones – or more specifically Keith's father – who put the protocol in place. Keith's our only chance of finding Voltron._ "

"What is Voltron?"

" _The only thing keeping us safe from them._ "

"Okay. No. Not okay. I'm of course a worried mother here. Are you honestly telling me the fate of the world rests in the hands of a bunch of teenagers?"

" _Hey! Not all of us are teenagers!_ "

Penelope rolled her eyes. "Cadet?"

" _It looks like that. I'm sorry they were drug into this, but I don't even know what Voltron is. This Schneider person wanted to make sure you were aware of what is going on, but we're not going to be able to stop Keith._ "

"Are you sure?"

" _Well, he is the only way we can find it, we honestly need it, but I've tried stopping Keith when he gets determined to do something._ "

" _Hey. Penelope. I'll keep the kids safe. I..._ "

"Don't make promises you can't keep." Penelope knew full well war didn't work the way people wanted it to. "Just keep me informed."

She hung up and saw her mother looking at her. "So?"

Another phone call came in. " _Aunt Penelope._ "

"Veronica?"

" _I am so, so sorry. Shiro and I left for our rounds for only a few minutes when the garrison went into lockdown._ "

"You mean to tell me this thing about an alien threat is real?"

" _What alien threat?_ "

"Wait? You don't know what this alien threat is?" Penelope watched her mother's face twist in worry.

" _Iverson didn't exactly give us details and told us to contact the Holts, but I wanted you to know what was going on._ "

"Veronica, call the Holts. I just got done speaking with their kid." Penelope took a deep breath. "And tell Shiro I'm not mad at him. If anybody I am mad at Schneider if even that."

" _Okay. She says she's not mad at you. He got the message and I'll be calling the Holts now._ "

Lydia's mouth twisted when a third call came in. Penelope took a deep breath. "Hello?"

" _This is commander Iverson._ "

"If this is telling me about the situation I've already gotten some details from the senior cadet and my niece. I know they're going after something called Voltron and there is some kind of alien threat."

" _That would be the Galra._ "

"And exactly how do you know about this Galra threat?"

" _We know about it because of the mother of Cadet Kagone and Lieutenant Shirogane._ "

"You mean the mother who they have no clue regarding where she is?"

" _Yes. That would be the person I am talking about._ "

"Are you telling me Keith was correct in saying their mother is..."

Iverson cleared his throat. " _I am not at liberty to say anything. Everything regarding their parents is top secret._ "

"You just told me the reason you know about this Galra threat is because of their mother."

" _That is the extent of what I can tell you about them. I can also tell you that you will likely see something on the news._ "

"What..." Penelope swallowed. In the distance over the desert was a rather large spacecraft.

"This is like out of a movie." Lydia, of course, started praying.

" _I will keep you informed about what happens to the cadets and the other teens, but at this point, I need to manage the garrison as we are under siege._ "

Penelope sat on the couch. A beam shot out from the ship while the reporter went into detail regarding the strange spacecraft and speculation regarding which country built the terrible weapon. She even heard a word about the faction looking to against the worldwide coalition for space travel as the culprit. Everything felt so unreal, yet outside of the house, she heard the sound of war off in the distance.

Her body shook as she remembered things she didn't want to remember, but her worst nightmare – her children experiencing war like she did – that was becoming reality.


	18. Chosen

He honestly wasn't sure he was doing the right thing despite the fact it felt like the right thing.

One thing which stood out in Keith's mind was hearing Lance complain from the backseat which in turn reminded Keith of what Lance said the other day; it was Keith's fault Shiro's life was so messed up. In the back of his mind he knew Shiro's life changed drastically when he became Keith's legal guardian, but Ryo – unlike Keith – could easily navigate his way through the intricacies of social life.

Despite the negative feelings Keith couldn't shake the fact Allura was calling out to him but leading him towards the place they needed to go. He overheard their landlord call Alex and Elena's mother to let them know something was changing which was when Matt got onto the phone to converse with her, but then he said, "It's likely going to be all over the news, so I'll be upfront with you that my parents received a message regarding alien invasion."

"Are you kidding me!" Lance's voice strained. "Is everyone crazy?"

"Aliens?" Hunk's voice trembled.

Elena and Syd squealed in delight and one of them said. "Aliens are real."

"You two do realize these aren't the good kind of aliens?" Alex asked.

"Maybe they mean an alien invasion from another country?"

"Yeah. I don't think so, Schneider."

Keith glanced up in time to see Alex shake his head before concentrating on where they were going. Eventually, he recognized a mountain which always interested him whenever he went out on the hoverbikes with his father or later on Shiro. The place was in fact near where his father's place in the desert, but for some reason he found himself getting closer.

He pulled the vehicle to a stop just outside of the mountain and got out. Lance made quite clear the fact he was annoyed. "Seriously. We're in the middle of nowhere. There is _nothing_ here."

"There's something here." Keith found himself walking the edge of the sharp mountain face.

Hunk cleared his voice. "Hey. Isn't this the mountain that was never mined because the minors always saw ghostly things happening."

"Those were ghost stories Hunk." Lance rolled his eyes. "Things such as ghosts and aliens do not exist." Keith wasn't sure until he heard the voice in his head and found himself reaching out for the spot the voice told him to. For a brief few seconds, nothing happened and Lance of started scoffing about how nothing happened.

A glow suddenly appeared under his hand and spread out over the rock space. Keith heard Schneider speak from nearby. "Oh, wow."

The earth began shaking and the rock fell away revealing a doorway. Keith's mouth opened as Lance walked forward with his hands shoved into his pockets. Lance leaned forward. "Well. I guess there is something here."

Lance started in while Hunk muttered something about traps. Keith shook his head but went in without hesitation. Elena and Syd were, of course, living out their wildest dreams, but Matt sent another message to his father while his sister looked on wide-eyed. Alex hurried forward. "Keith, do you know what is going on?" Keith looked at Alex in confusion. "You don't, do you?"

"I just know Allura called out, but that this is important."

After getting scanned at one point they traveled along the hallway which slowly lit up until they came to a room with circles on the floor. Keith walked over to the console in the middle and pushed a button just as Schneider said. "Wait! Don't..." Something started coming up from two of the circles. "... do that. We don't know what it will do."

Keith watched Lance key in on a feminine shape in one of the tubes which were frosted over, but the tube released, and a young female fell out. He found himself wincing at her reaction to his flirtations and Lance's ugly ears, but she was the person he dreamed about. Elena and Syd squealed with delight upon seeing her.

"Hey! Let go of the princess!"

Lance, of course, didn't like the person with orange hair, but the princess looked right at Keith before going to the monitor. A video feed came up and her mouth widened. "Oh no. They're here."

The other person came over and pulled on his mustache. "Not surprising. It's been ten-thousand years."

"Coran..." Allura looked right at him. "This means the previous paladins are gone?"

"Yes. It looks like yet another generation, but..." Coran pointed at Schneider. "Wait. Are you the only adult here?"

"No. He's not."

Keith's head darted up and looked right at his brother, yet the look on Shiro's face screamed he was in fact in trouble. "Shiro..."

Lance swallowed. "Veronica..."

"Okay. So what is this Voltron that is supposed to defend us against the Galra?"

"Lord Alfor hid Voltron away."

"Yes, but we don't have any other option." Allura closed her eyes. "This isn't good."

"Princess."

Her eyes snapped open as a hologram of five different colored lions appeared and she looked right at Shiro. "Apparently the Black Lion has chosen you to pilot it because you are the one with the most leadership skills at this point."

"Hold on..." Shiro's eyes widened.

She then looked at Matt. "The Green Lion picked out because of your intelligence, but you also have some piloting skill."

"Hold on..." Veronica looked up. "That's Voltron."

"It doesn't look..." Alex pushed his lips together.

Allura ignored the comments and turned towards Elena. "The Blue Lion picked you because it looks for a pilot it can nurture and let grow."

"Hold on..." Lance's throat tighten.

"I agree. I'm not a cadet at the garrison and have absolutely no experience with this kind of thing."

"The Blue Lion still chose you, but Voltron is needed..."

A loud resounding thud was heard from the outside and Allura pulled up another screen revealing a giant ship. Shiro cleared his throat. "Princess, what about the two other lions."

"The Yellow Lion likes a pilot who is kind for their paladin," Allura pointed right at Hunk.

"So, that leaves me with the red one? You know, the best pilot?"

Keith watched Allura's eyes narrowed as she glared at Lance. "Red is particular."

"In other words the most handsomest?"

"No. The one who relies on instinct."

Keith stiffened when everyone looked at him. "Wait? Why is everyone looking at me?"

Alex's eyes widened. "Didn't you find this place on instinct."

"Well..." Keith swallowed. What Alex said was true, yet Lance did not like the fact Keith was picked over him. Of course, Lance wasn't the "best" pilot like he claimed either.


	19. Trepidation

What he thought would be a nightmare was, in fact, a nightmare.

One of the last things he wanted to do was drag children into a war, particularly when he knew first hand what war was like. Shiro's eyes drifted towards his own brother who was also the reason why they were now in charge of Voltron, but his mind barely registered the fact Voltron would if they worked together form a giant robot.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lance glare at Keith, yet something told him Lance now had something else to be jealous of Keith over. Katie crossed her arms. "I wanted to be a pilot."

Lance turned his head towards her. "Sure. You're just a little kid."

"I am not."

"Knock it off you two."

"Yeah, but Lance has actually used the pilot simulators." Hunk stammered out. The cadet's fingers twiddled together, but he honestly looked as if he were going to cry. "So why me?"

Shiro almost said, " _I'm not sure_ ," but instead opted for, "Well, she picked you based on the fact you're a kind person, right?"

"But how could she have known that?"

"Correction." The funny looking man piped up. "The lions picked their pilots."

"The lions must be very dumb."

The funnyman pulled on his funny mustache. "Lord Alfor the king of Altea created the lions."

"He must be..."

"Lance." Thankfully Veronica was the one to give Lance the dirty look for his comment.

Elena's lips pushed together. Out of all the ones chosen, she was not a cadet, yet Shiro knew Penelope would in fact not be happy when she found out her daughter was chosen by some strange aliens to be a pilot of a war machine. The earth shook as another attack occurred. Shiro knew they needed to get the lions out there. "Keith, Matt, and Hunk. I want you three to get to your lions while I speak to Elena real quick. Keith, you're in charge until we're able to get out there."

"What?"

"You heard me, cadet."

"Yes, sir."

Shiro was glad Keith responded, yet wasn't surprised. Despite Keith's dislike of authority he knew when not to rebel. A quick glance from Lance made Shiro let out a sigh. Lance was obviously jealous of the others, but Elena was getting a pep talk from Shiro.

"Elena..."

"I can't do this," Elena whispered while looking at her cousin, brother and significant other.

Schneider walked over. "Maybe I can help."

"Schneider, I can't do this."

"Keith says that a lot." Shiro watched Elena look at him in surprise.

"Keith's already flying actual aircraft."

"Spacecraft actually, but yes." Shiro didn't like how her voice strained.

"Yeah, but he's got a talent for this."

"Funny. Last time I checked Keith didn't think so, and I should know my own brother."

"I..." Elena looked him in the eye. "This is more Alex, Lance, and my mom's thing."

"I know." Shiro glanced at Allura. "It has to be the pilots the lions choose?"

"Yes. The Lions picked for good reason."

The look on Allura's face said she didn't exactly agree with the choices which were made by the lions. A quick look at Elena made Shiro realize she'd seen the look on Allura's face. "Look. If you're worried about your mom chewing you out, I'll say this is my fault."

"Woah! I'll say it's my fault. That's more believable."

"Or that if he's right, though technically while we're both responsible adults here I'm actually the adult in charge, but I'm also not going to force you. That's not how a team works Elena."

"Yeah, but you guys need me."

"True." Shiro took a deep breath. He watched her eyes drifting over to Syd. "Hey, does this have anything to do with Syd?"

"What if I die? What if Syd dies? It's always the gay person who dies isn't it?"

"Elena, I'm not following."

"The gay person dies because they're expendable."

Shiro frowned. "I am still not following."

Elena took a deep breath. "It's homophobic."

"How is a fact of life homophobic?"

"Killing off a character in a story is wrong because it's done because they're gay and not as important as the gay character is homophobic."

Schneider raised an eyebrow. "She's right you know."

Shiro took a deep breath. "First off, this isn't fiction Elena. People die regardless of whether they're heterosexual or not, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the idea of fiction not reflecting that reality."

"What would you know? You're not..."

"I am. I am actually bisexual, but more importantly, I lost someone recently I was almost in a relationship with. Your sexuality is not some magic wand which protects you from reality, though I do agree with you that a character shouldn't be killed off simply because they're gay, I would never, ever say you're not as important as the rest of the team. Goodness knows Adam was always the most important person on the team to me, but he was one of the few people who ever got Keith."

"Yeah, but I don't want to die." The ground shook and Shiro found himself looking back at Syd.

"This may come across as manipulative of me Elena, but if we don't do this then countless others will die. If I have to die, I'd rather do so trying to protect everyone else, but I don't think I could live with myself if I didn't do the right thing."

"Syd will die if we don't do something?"

"That is simply a possibility. I honestly don't know what the power of the Galra is."

Schneider listened carefully. "Elena, you go get them. I'll protect the ones you care about who are here while you protect the rest of us, okay?"

Elena looked up at the strange landlord in amusement, yet her eyes also said she doubted Schneider's capability. "Okay, but I want to talk about this further later. I'm not sure I agree."

Shiro pointed his thumb at Veronica. "She's the counselor, but I think I'll be talking to her as well."


	20. La Esperanza

Penelope sat watching the news screen as the city around her rattled from the attack. She wasn't sure what was going on beyond the fact something called Voltron was needed in order to defeat the enemy which was now attacking Earth. She wasn't even sure why the Earth was being attacked, but the fact they weren't alone out there didn't sit well with her.

Her mother of course prayed. Penelope swallowed. "An alien attack doesn't make you doubt your beliefs?"

"No." Lydia made the sign of the cross. "I still believe what I believe. I don't know what the pope will say about this, but I am praying he is alright along with my grandchildren who are out there along with the other children with them. I will never stop believing in the power of the prayer, but I will be given an answer like this like I was given an answer when Elena came out to us."

"I can believe that," Penelope remembered how Lydia welcomed Elena with open arms but found her answer in what the pope said regarding her granddaughter. "For me though, it makes it harder to believe in a higher power."

A look from Lydia said the subject was off-limits, but not because religion was an off-limits topic in the home. Instead, the focus needed to be on their own safety and hoping that the children would be safe as well.

The newscaster stood on one of the buildings with a finger pressed to their earpiece. "So, we have no word from the garrison which is the group most likely to have an answer. Everyone believes that this is the group against the pursuit of galactic space travel being a worldwide project and feel that it should be an unmonopolized adventure."

The reporter responding said, "I tend to agree as such programs would favor the governments who put the most money in and small countries would fall behind and become even more third world than they already are."

"How can they talk about a program which doesn't exist?"

"Possibly because they suspect that ship is of Earth origin still mommy, but they are speculating that the government possibly has been secretly traveling into space without people knowing."

"Yes, but that doesn't justify an attack."

The television signal went out and Penelope found herself taking a deep breath wishing they'd not lost any chance of having news regarding the aliens attacking Earth, yet something told her it would be some time until answers they waited for actually came. The lights flickered for a few seconds and then the power went off.

Lydia threw up her arms. "Alright. Let's go eat the ice cream."

"Mommy." Penelope shook her head, but followed her mother to the fridge and watched Lydia pull out a tub of ice crème before heading for two spoons.

"This will be our food until we get news. That way the fridge and freezer will remain cold as long as possible."

Penelope, of course, wasn't going to argue with her mother as they sat on the couch. She half expected a cop to come in and say the entire city was in fact evacuating, and yet there was no way they could possibly know how to evacuate let alone where the safe place was. A knock came at the door and Lydia got up and let the neighbors who came to the door in.

They brought with them some other foods from their fridge and soon quite a few people were gathered in the room while they waited for the power to come on and for some kind of news. Neither Penelope or Lydia mentioned anything about aliens, yet the thought remained in the back of her mind while she waited for answers. Her phone went off.

" _Aunt Penelope?_ "

"Veronica?"

" _I am so glad the cell towers are working._ "

"What is going on?"

" _You're not going to like the news, but I'd rather not tell your grandmother._ "

"It can wait until the neighbors are gone."

" _We found Voltron. It's an alien weapon from another alien race called the Alteans, but there are five lions which form a bigger weapon._ "

"What?"

" _I know. What's important here is the lions apparently picked their pilots, or paladins as the aliens told us._ "

"And?"

" _One of the lions picked Elena._ "

"What?" Penelope shoved a mouthful of ice cream into her mouth and swallowed.

" _Please don't blame Lieutenant Shirogane on this._ "

"I won't. Schneider either. Honestly, I out of all people should know full well that you can't affect the way war turns out. You take care."

" _I will. And don't let Syd's mother know either. Not until..._ "

"I got it."

"Any news?"

"Not really. We need to wait this out everyone, but make the best of the situation. While we're at it, why don't we get to know each other? I actually haven't met some of you, but this may very well distract us."

"From our impending doom."

"If you want to think about that, that is fine, but I know my mother is waiting for us to be saved and likes remaining optimistic. I'd like to take a page out of her book."


	21. What Is

Keith didn't feel as if the red paladin uniform, he put on was, in fact, suitable, but he didn't like the fact he would be in an actual leadership position until Shiro got out there with Elena, but both Hunk and Matt followed him willingly. Of course, the only one managing to fly with them towards the ships which were speeding out of the Galra ship was in fact, Matt.

A line opened up and Keith sucked in his breath upon seeing the purple monster in front of him. "You."

"Turn Voltron over to us and we will let the people of your planet live."

"Something tells me they won't Keith."

"I agree with you, Matt." Keith's eyes widen. "Wait. Where's Hunk?"

"I don't..." A sudden thud told him the green lion was hit. "Sorry. I got hit. I'm used to being a communications officer."

"Yeah, well... I'm outside of my comfort zone." Of course, Keith took out a few of the ships.

"You're at least a pilot! I'm an engineer!"

"Oh! There you are!" Keith felt a smile spread across his face as Hunk plowed into another Galra ship. "And you're doing fine."

"I bet I could do better."

Keith swallowed at hearing Lance's voice come over the coms, yet he found himself reminded of the fact he didn't feel like the best choice for a team. Veronica cleared her throat. "Don't listen to him, Keith. The other two will be with you soon. Just hold out until then."

"Yes. Do hold out until then paladins."

Keith felt his mouth twist. Allura was the alien he dreamed of, yet she felt very different from what he expected, yet he wasn't sure what he was expecting beyond the fact he knew she was pretty. "Unapproachable..."

"The ship is unapproachable?" Coran piped up. "That's why you need to form Voltron."

"How!" Hunk called out.

"Yes. How are we supposed to form Voltron?" Elena called out which made Keith let out a sigh of relief.

"We're here guys."

"By melding as a team."

"Say what?" Hunk suddenly flew into Keith's lion and sent Keith flying off in an unexpected direction.

"Okay, Hunk. Don't try crashing into the other lions in an attempt to get us to form Voltron. I don't think that's what he meant."

"Then what did he mean."

"Concentrate paladins!"

Keith took a deep breath, yet nothing happened which in turn majorly frustrated him. He wanted to form Voltron and stop the enemy from destroying his home, and yet Earth never felt like home. "Guys..." Elena called out. "I'm not able to move."

Keith's head snapped up and he saw a tractor beam on Elena, but the red lion felt stiff as if it didn't want to respond to him. Keith found himself taking a deep breath. "Elena, hold on. You're not going to like what I am going to do."

"Keith, what are you going to do?" Shiro's voice strained, almost as if his brother knew he was going to do something stupid.

Keith moved the controls and suddenly the lion responded the way he wanted. He felt the Red Lion crash into the Blue Lion, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Blue Lion leave the tractor beam while he felt the Red Lion being pulled into the ship.

"Keith!" Matt called out. "What? Why?"

"Paladins, you do realize you need all of the lions to form Voltron?" Coran said.

Keith narrowed his eyes in annoyance, but his hands gripped the controls. "I know."

"I got it!"

The tractor beam suddenly released and Keith's eyes widened in surprise. Elena spoke with excitement in her voice. "The Yellow Lion smashed the beam."

"Good job Hunk."

Keith looked at the ship and saw the ship exploding around the tractor beam due to the damage to the device. He'd never expected someone to step in, but suddenly he felt something but heard some kind of gears shifting. His eyes blinked while Coran called out excitedly. "Good job! You just formed Voltron."

"How?" Keith felt his throat strain.

"By melding as a team."

Keith wasn't sure how that worked, but Voltron easily tore through the ship and everything crashed into the desert below. He found himself taking a deep breath, but they flew back to the place the lions came from. He couldn't help but feel as if they were still in trouble, yet Lance glared at him. "I could have done better."

Outside they found the vehicles intact, but they opened communication with Iverson who told them he would meet them where they were. Keith tried looking the others in the eye, but he found himself struggling to feel like a team. He found himself outside looking at the destruction done to the desert by the ships weapons system but took a deep breath when Iverson arrived.

"You're not in trouble."

"Shiro..."

Iverson got out of the vehicle. "We've sent soldiers out to the Galra ship, but those still alive have evacuated. We'll need to find them."

"You do realize this weapon, it doesn't belong to Earth."

"Shiro's right."

"Yes, but someone entrusted it into Earth's protection."

"Iverson..."

"I'm not saying the garrison will use it to manipulate the situation. The fact the Lions picked mostly teens who've not yet hit adulthood was intentional, but you cadets did a good job."

"I guess."

"You did."

"Ms..." Keith swallowed. "Tia Penelope." He found himself pulled into a hug by both the woman and her mother.

Lydia pulled on his cheeks. "I am glad you're okay, but I am going to go and see my Elena now."

"Okay..." Keith looked down.

"Do you think you can pull that off again?"

Shiro frowned. "I don't know. And can Earth handle this? This is quite a lot of destruction."

"I am hoping that we might, with the help of the Alteans, come up with a defense system so that Voltron can act more on the offense than the defense."

"That's honestly up to the princess."

"Yes. This is a political nightmare."

Keith opened his mouth, yet he didn't know what to say. He did know things would never be the same again.


End file.
